Please save St Joseph Farm

THE EDITOR: The destruction of the St Joseph Farm is nothing less than a desecration of mother earth and all her beautiful wonders.

The farmers of Ramgoolie Settlement have started their protest action and the national community understands and is lending support to the cause. However, the nation must also pay attention to the irreversible environmental damage that will be caused by the construction of housing units on the most fertile lands in Trinidad and Tobago. We as a people often pay lip service to the environment. Very few of us ever go out of the way to protect our natural beauty. We wait until it is too late to do anything. This issue is however different. We must stand up for the natural wonders that belong to the St Joseph Farm. Where will all the birds go to nest? Where will the University of the West Indies do its soil testing?

This government seems ambivalent to the fact that the environment is precious to all and vital to the national interests. What is the government’s policy for the environment? Does it exist at all? It is time that the government come clean on its true vision for the environment. The St Joseph Farm must be saved! I call on all like-minded environmentalists to join me in this crusade to save in this instance the St Joseph Farm and to force the government to develop an environmental policy that is practical and appropriate.

A ANDERSON MORRIS
San Juan