HE DARK SIDE OF URBANIZATION-POLLUTION/LITTER
It is absolutely heart breaking and frustrating to witness this
constant disregard for the environment in Port-of-Spain. Polluters range from
children to the elderly and it makes me wonder what has the environment done to
them that was so bad that they have to treat it this way. Its saddening because
we live in a society where the environment is of least importance and we fail
to recognize that the environment can live without us however we can not live
without it. These pictures were taken on different streets in Port-of-Spain and
as citizen I can not understand how it is the same city that we created we are
destroying.
Land pollution is a serious
threat as toxic and greenhouse gases are emitted from it.
Additionally odorous gases are also emitted and the city smells stink.
Everyone knows this, Port-of-Spain is known to smell nasty and we create that
scent yet still every time we enter the city we complain. Something is horribly
wrong there. As Port-of-Spain is the capital city of Trinidad and undergoing
intense urbanization it is expected that this would occur as with
urbanization, by concentrating so many people in a concrete jungle where
little aesthetic value is portrayed then solid waste would also be
concentrated.
Although formerly the
presence of bins in Port-of-Spain was scarce so people saw it fit to drop their
litter any and everywhere it is still our city and we must treat it like that
so we should have taken the incentive to clean the city ourselves if
the government would not provide trash bins for us.However currently there are
bins located all over Port-of-Spain some specifically for plastic and paper and
other general bins and we still feel the need to litter. Our garage pick up
system is also at fault here as it is not always running efficiently leaving a
build up of waste for days.
This build up of waste as
well as when people throw their trash on the ground most of it ends up in our
drains. Port-of-Spain being a flood plain and most of it being
reclaimed land a clogged drain is a serious problem when it comes to heavy
rainfall . As we have seen previously the city floods quickly with any long
duration of heavy rainfall and the litter in the drains speeds up the flooding
process.
Measures have been put in
place to deal with this culture of littering that exists in Trinidad. Firstly
the implementation of litter wardens whose job is to uphold the litter act and
enforce the law. They can be identified on patrol by their environmentally
friendly colours- an olive green pants/skirt, light green tops,green caps and
black shoes. If found littering a fine of $500 must be within a 21 day
period or the offenders are summoned to court where they are ordered to pay a
fine of $1000. For corporate offenders the fine is $2000.
As of 2006 11
litter wardens were on patrol in Port-of-Spain and throughout the day
they dealt with pedestrians, vendors and business people, warned them to be careful of where and how they dump rubbish. The wardens were regularly on the beat, many of the street vendors that operated on George, Prince,
Charlotte and Park Streets cleaned up their acts and started placing their
garbage in boxes and bags instead of carelessly tossing them out on the streets.
It is our
responsibility to keep our city clean no one else own because it
belongs to each and everyone of us. This culture we as Trini's have for
littering needs to end promptly because our environment is our home and we all
want to live in a clean home. I do not think litter wardens still exists today
however we should all act as litter wardens for one another and our
consciences should act as little wardens for ourselves and keep our city clean.
Extra Reading
Oh my gosh! It disgusts me the culture some of us Trinidadians have with littering.People complain about the floods yet they littler the streets and drains. I guess we are more irritated by such acts because as students of geography and environmental studies we are more aware of the consequences. In that case I think environmental pollution should be taught at primary schools. Imagine we actually need to have litter wardens to make sure one doesn't drop their rubbish on the floor. smh!
ReplyDeleteCan you include some articles on why people litter and why this is so strongly correlated with the urban?
ReplyDeleteNice pics.