IF MANY OF US as consumers are not to suffer in silence, it is necessary to send a loud and clear reminder to the relevant authorities.
If there are regulations that protect consumers, then these regulations should be easily accessible to the public without having to seek legal redress.
Collectively, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Barbados Consumer Research Organisation are being asked to affirm and enforce a policy that carries penalties relating to businesses selling tools and appliances, but not selling replacement parts.
In recent years there has been a lot of noise, singing and dancing about “reduce, reuse, renew, recycle”, yet there is little or no reduction in the amount of items on dump heaps and gullies across the island.
Refrigerators, washing machines, stoves, lawn-mowers, electrical fans, televisions are only a few of the dumped items that can be renewed and reused if only the appropriate parts could be sourced and procured, but such a situation suits the pockets of some business houses and “they like it so”.
The example of a four-burner gas stove requiring two top grills after three years, with all other parts in good working order, being deposited in a landfill is a disgrace.
The original grills made of poor quality metal cannot withstand prolonged heat and replacements are not even available for sale.
If no corrective steps are taken by the relevant authorities post haste, then the motto “reduce, reuse, renew, recycle” will continue to ring hollow in the minds of individuals, there will be no stimulation or excitement as an inducement for action towards effective recycling, and it will continue to be business as usual for most retailers of tools and appliances who do not make replacement parts available for sale to customers.
– MICHAEL RAY