Geography Matters

The settlers there are squatters perhaps, but it is their attitude towards the land that catches the attention.

On a tour of the space, one of the men proudly pointed out trees that he had planted, to beautify the land for others to enjoy as well. There were fruit trees as well as those that possessed medicinal value. This stands out as one example of people who had not settled on a piece of land only to live, but were actually using it in a way that would be beneficial for the space and by extension other people.

Over the past week, the island has seen what some people have described as some of the worse flooding in South and some parts of Central and east Trinidad. Residents came out to help each other in some cases, but by the time the storm warning and the rains had subsided, a fresh downpour came along and people were back to neighbours’ homes to assist with the cleaning.

The flooding set into motion, for me, some thoughts about the land. I am no geographer, but as a researcher in the field of cultural studies and someone who is generally curious about people, one cannot evade, in studies of cultures, the impact of geography on the formation of ideas, lifestyles and cultural practices. And the flooding is a geographical as much as it is a cultural issue.

One might say, geography is obvious– low lying areas, blockage of waterways, homes built on swamp lands and so forth might be valid reasons for the heavy flooding in some areas. The question is why are those homes built in areas prone to flooding? Why are waterways blocked? Why after so many years of knowing that certain areas flood, that little has been done to rectify it? Why are there new flood-prone areas? One angle of inquiry boils down to the question of how we use and think about land – a significant geographical question that impacts on the way that we plan: who plans, for whom, why, how and whether this is an individual or community (assuming that we still have those around) act? Our problem of flooding, of the way in which we are structured or not structured to deal with natural disasters - are geography issues. As a colleague noted, for I was curious to find out what geographers thought about the recent floods, “we do have systems in place for natural disasters. They are the warning systems and the response systems. What we don’t have is a plan for development for we have no monitoring systems and our laws (as we all know) offer no continuity… Furthermore, we have no perception of what development is.

It’s very myopic.” In a previous column, I had noted that people have an emotional connection to land. But that thought remains incomplete in this context of flooding. While we have emotional connections to the environment, there is a seeming gap in the way in which personal emotional connection ties in with that of the community’s.

For instance, last Friday, the Guardian carried a story about the breach of the banks of the Caroni River in Piarco where villagers claimed that a farmer had dug a pond close to the bank. They identified it as possible reason for the river to have burst its bank at that point causing heavy flooding.

Whether the accusation is true or not, the farmer in question did not deny using dirt from the river bank to fill acres of land, and digging a pond to water his crops during the dry season. (Guardian, June 23).

Had the law been enforced effectively, to prevent such decisions by individuals to use land as they felt like, the issue of a breach could have been avoided.

More importantly, the use of the riverbank in a way that was personal to the farmer is an issue that deserves attention since there are laws that do govern water sources.

There are countless examples of individuals using land at their own whims and fancies that play a significant role in the changes in landscape and human development.

“Personal values”, as my colleague noted, “guide decisions, rather than critical thinking.” It takes us back to the recent destruction of heritage sites in Sangre Grande, another example of individual decision-making, rather than teamwork. Solving the flooding problem is not just a case of fixing drainage or building walls. It is about developing an ideology that will change the way we think about development and land use. To do so however, requires the cultivation of global and critical thinkers.