Who the corporate cap fits, let them wear it

The tragic events of the 2004 hurricane season brought to the fore some interesting questions about the relationship between the actions of people and their communities and unfolding regional and global weather patterns. Needless to say, scientists have engaged in vigorous debates on the precise long-term prognosis for the future of the globe. And, it is probably not an entirely idle question that some of our assumptions might indeed be wrong concerning the phenomenon of more intense weather in the Caribbean. What is however without doubt, is that our poor management of the natural environment in the region has rendered us far more vulnerable to the worst effects of episodes of severe and not so severe weather.

There is no question, for example, that the perennial incidence of flooding throughout this country is heavily attributable to an almost complete absence of development planning and ignorance of the impact of private, individual behaviour. This, of course, is even more a recipe for disaster than the much touted drive to limit harmful carbon emissions globally. Where, in this country, is there a serious and concerted effort to ensure that the full force of the law, where it exists, is applied to developers who flout basic regulations regarding the denuding of hillsides, the reclamation of coastal areas and the re-routing of water-courses? These are not the actions of private individuals. They are the deliberate, well-funded activities of corporate Trinidad and Tobago.

A well-trained blind eye has apparently been turned to industrial and commercial concerns that have decided that the cost of development ought to be the future of the country. In this, agencies such as the Environmental Management Authority have been hamstrung by a lack of will on the part of both our elected legislators and those employed to ensure laws are not broken. This country ought to have long passed the age of ‘‘untouchable elements’’ that flout the law with impunity on the basis of big bank accounts and presumed positive contributions to the economic well-being of the country.

The patience of the population is running thin on this issue and our elected officials should take greater note of public opinion on this matter. There is, equally, an obligation on the part of individual citizens and their households to ensure that they do not contribute to this state of affairs. For example, the vital connection between watershed areas uphill and the coastal environment seems not to have captured the attention of those who populate the northern mountain range. Flooding of the central plain is as much a function of callous indifference upstream as it is of official incompetence downstream where drainage issues predominate. It is always somewhat amusing to hear politicians assert the end of flooding when the wisdom of the streets clearly discerns the vast potential for failure.

It is also similarly disconcerting to detect a lack of connection between public discourse on the issue and the power of private, individual action. In 2004, there are still people who dump garbage in our watercourses. Beds, old refrigerators, derelict vehicles and domestic waste are often to be found in the narrow tributaries that frequently overflow their banks in central villages. This year, environmentalists expressed concern that unacceptable levels of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals were being found in these very watercourses and in the vegetables and fruits being sold in local markets.

In many instances, these agro-chemicals would have been transported downhill from the slash-and-burn enterprises of hillside farmers, but much of it obviously emanates from the very villages that experience the effects of regular flooding. No one, therefore, appears to be blameless in this situation. This is a classic case in which we have all been found to be guilty. It however rests on the laps of our leaders to initiate positive action on this state of affairs. The state of the environment cannot be relegated, as it has, to the junk-heap of the not-so-important.

A functioning and efficient Ministry of the Environment cannot continue to be a ministerial appendage — a portfolio assigned to the politically exiled or marginalised. The police must also realise that they are employed to ensure compliance with all the laws of the land, not only those that make the daily news or that have a bearing on violent crime. Local government authorities must begin to do their work and become more involved in ensuring that unplanned development does not go unchecked.