Drowning in pollution

“Two hours after the clean-up, volunteers amassed more than 1,700 pounds of trash, but were left feeling disappointed as the island looked much the same as when they arrived,” the Ministry of Planning and Development said in a media release on Monday.

“The quantity of garbage discarded throughout the island was a jarring reminder of the need to care for the environment and protect our oceans. Ocean trash is detrimental to the health and well-being of people, wildlife and local economies.

It has the potential to kill marine animals, injure swimmers, damage property such as boat propellers and poison our waters and seafood.” That thousands of pounds of rubbish can be removed yet make no dent speaks volumes about the extent of pollution that plagues our sensitive environmental zones. The problem is out of hand.

In relation to the marine environment, human behaviour is squarely to blame. The vast sea of items littering the beaches of Chacachacare includes Styrofoam cups, plates, containers and plastic bottles.

These items are more or less the most common found at other locations along the coast where pollution has caused eyesores.

We praise the ministry for organising the clean-up over the weekend. Even though the exercise made a negligible impact, it would have no doubt helped raise awareness about the problem of pollution.

Participants would have seen first-hand the implications of poor waste disposal. That is a powerful thing and we hope each of the 180 volunteers take this message home and to their respective communities.

But the State has to do more than just organise clean-up activities.

The Ministry of Planning has to see to it that urban, rural and coastal spaces are properly planned and regulated, law enforcement bodies and environmental agencies must police laws and private citizens must warm to a culture of environmental sensitivity.

In this respect we welcome the campaign to get maxi taxi drivers to switch to compressed natural gas.

On September 12, two diesel-powered maxi taxis were crushed and disposed of to allow the owners to access grants to procure original equipment manufactured (OEM) CNG (compressed natural gas) maxi taxis.

A Memorandum of Understanding between National Gas Company (NGC), NGC CNG Company Ltd and the Association of Maxi Taxis of Trinidad and Tobago that allowed for the grant offer to maxi taxi owners to dispose of their diesel vehicles and secure new CNG ones was signed in 2015.

It is hoped the initiative will catch on. A CNG gas station owner recently reported an increase in cars using that station daily, in a sign that there may be some merit in believing a cultural shift is possible.

But while we seek to get car owners to install new, environmentally- friendly equipment, the State has even more fundamental matters outstanding.

It cannot be acceptable that there is still no word on the causes of a series of oil spills – now going back years – in south Trinidad. It has been said that the problem is due to aging infrastructure and facilities.

However, if this is the case, why have no provisions ever been made for upgrade, especially given the deleterious effects of effluence on the health and safety of communities and on the environment.

We are still grappling with the possibility that spills from years ago have left enduring hazards within the physical environment.

We also welcome, at last, the decision taken by the Ministry of Planning to send fish samples to the Food and Drug Administration laboratory in the United States for testing. Urgent action is required on this matter because each week it seems a new spill develops, leaving us drowning in pollution.