Sorry to start on this note but I am upset and angry at peoples’ carelessness about disposing of trash. Jamaica has such natural beauty and is the envy of many visitors here but Jamaicans seem not to appreciate it and are bent on destroying it. I see trash everywhere. I see people throw trash on the ground even though a trash bin may be only few feet away. I have got into verbal altercation with people who just don’t care. Sometimes their response is that by throwing a trash on the ground provides a job for others to clean it. What nonsense. Week before last I made a trip to St. Ann’s Bay and what I saw made my skin crawl. As I was walking to the bus park along Marcus Garvey Way where all the vendors have their stalls selling food items, I was appalled to see the filth and I felt nauseated. (blurb)First thing that went through my mind is why doesn’t the Council clean up the area and educate people about dangers of water and air borne diseases, some of which are fatal especially to young children and the elderly. People in the area are not blameless who throw trash into the aqueduct clogging it with all kinds of non biodegradable Styrofoam and plastic food containers. The stagnant water seemed to be bubbling with scum. It is a disaster waiting to happen and I wonder, isn’t anyone concerned about their health safety? The cars and trucks drive down the street stirring up the air and blowing air borne bacteria and filth on exposed food. The food vendors lined up along the street are exposed by breathing the contaminated air as are the people who buy the food and ingest it. First, standing water is breeding ground for mosquitoes and Dengue Fever. Here are some other diseases identified with stagnant water: Giardiasis (parasitic), Norovirus, Shigellosis, MSRA(bacterial infection), Legionnaires Disease, Leptospirosis, Hepatitis B and C, HIV/Aids virus, E Coli bacteria, and deadly brain eating amoeba. Many of these are either deadly or are serious. St Ann’s Bay is not the only town where throwing trash anywhere one sees fit is an accepted norm but it’s the worst I have seen. There is a pristine, natural, river or a creek running through Milford just outside of Ocho Rios and someone just recently dumped all kind of trash into it. It is so sad to see this happen and ruin the natural beauty of the area. It pains me to see it and I want to ask everyone to start a ” KEEP JAMAICA CLEAN” movement. I think this movement should start with young children to teach them to respect the beauty of nature. Just drive by Ocho Rios High School and see unbelievable amount of thrash thrown by the student in front of their school. Where is the respect for their school and their town? To be blunt, the people responsible in St Ann’s Bay to take care of such things need to lose their jobs. How can they put people’s health at such risk? I welcome your feed back and comments [email protected].
Jamaicans wake up, rise up, take action.
