EDITORIAL
There is simply too much garbage either piled up or strewn across various areas – on some streets, in alleys, around the old Fairchild Street market, and along some of the recently restored and renovated areas.
SOON AFTER the new Barbados Labour Party Administration took office last May, it promised a much-needed national clean-up and beautification programme would be undertaken.
Barbadians are still awaiting that initiative, given the importance every citizen attaches to it.
The exercise needs to start in Bridgetown and its environs, which are very dirty. Our capital is the centre of commercial activity, the place where thousands work, where people convene most days of the week, and where Government would like to see greater night-time activity and more residents.
The City is also the place where we want to make thousands of cruise ship visitors feel at home during their brief stopovers. To call a lot of what we see an eyesore would be an understatement.
There is simply too much garbage either piled up or strewn across various areas – on some streets, in alleys, around the old Fairchild Street market, and along some of the recently restored and renovated areas. People hustling around Bridgetown, business people and even the vagrants – they all contribute to the pileup of waste and general unsightliness.
There are too many abandoned buildings in The City, whether landmarks or simply commercial buildings. From the old Barbados Workers’ Union building on Roebuck Street to what was the Empire Theatre on Probyn Street, to the former Public Library at Coleridge Street, the situation is all the same.
Government has abandoned the old Louis Lynch Secondary School on Whitepark Road, while on the seafront, despite talk of redevelopment, the old Eye Hospital and the complex which once housed the General Hospital remain unused and a blot on the landscape.
This disdain for our cultural heritage is evident both by the public and private sectors based on the behaviour exhibited. Bridgetown needs to be urgently restored to a quaint oasis of city life, for those who truly want to enjoy a UNESCO Heritage Site.
It can be done. The impressive restoration and indeed expansion work done around the Jewish Synagogue are a joy to sore eyes. This effort needs to be extended to the nearby Montefiore Foundation, which needs an urgent facelift and subsequently consistent maintenance. Given its proximity to the Halls of Justice and the District “A” Magistrates’ Courts, it should be the ideal corporate social responsibility project for the Bar Association and its many well heeled members.
The effort at rejuvenating and keeping Bridgetown and its surroundings in pristine condition must be embraced by civic organisations and the private sector. Given the private sector’s various projects to improve Bridgetown, it is evident business people understand what’s at stake.
Barbadians must strive to keep their surroundings clean, whether at home, the workplace or in Bridgetown.
It is all about economics, health and pride in ourselves. Let us all strive to be good, clean citizens. This is all part of public safety.
