By LAMECH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
ljohnson@tribunemedia.net
HUNDREDS of disgruntled residents, some with their children, marched outside the grounds of the Baha Mar Convention Centre yesterday armed with placards reading “I can’t breathe” and “Too Young To Die” in protest of recurring fires at the New Providence landfill.
The facility was the host site for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) annual general meetings. The IDB has previously granted the Bahamas more than $30m in loans to assist with solid waste management throughout the country.
However, city dump fires have been a recurrent problem for years in the capital.
The protest was organised by environmental action group Raising Awareness About The Bahamas Landfill (RABL). Protestors wore black and also had masks covering their faces.
Those who took part in yesterday’s event said they are tired of talk and want action.
“We all have children, you know, that live here and we’re tired of breathing all of this toxic smoke,” Michelle White told this newspaper.
“You have to make noise. And once enough noise is made then they start to prioritise the issues. And that’s what we’re here to do, to draw attention,” said Sandra Relouw-Heinzi. “For me I know it was a couple of weeks ago my son said he wanted to go out and get some fresh air and it was literally one of the worst days in our area. And I actually had to tell him ‘You can’t go outside, there is no fresh air right now.’ That was, for me, a key turning point that this has got to stop. Our kids deserve to have clean air and be able to go out and play in clean air.”
Shaka Serville, an attorney whose two children attend the Meridian School, said: “I’ve had no option but to become aware of the effect of the toxins or toxic pollutants that appear to emanate from there.”
Lisa Sawyer-McCartney, director of the Meridian School that has frequently had to close because of smoke from dump fires, said yesterday: “I’ve accepted the responsibility to educate children.
“That responsibility has been hindered because of the effects of the burning dump. I’ve spoken to many reporters in the past. Every time the dump catches fire we have to pay to relocate 300 children and 40 staff members. So that gets expensive. We can’t afford it but it is my responsibility so I do it. It’s been escalating since 10 years ago and I remembered voicing my concerns to the then persons that were responsible was being told ‘Yeah, we’re working on it’ and we’re 10 years here now.”
The IDB has given a number of developmental grants to the Bahamas in recent years to help with improving solid waste management in the country.
Between November 1994 and February 1999, the IDB approved four separate grants for waste management efforts.
According to the IDB’s website, on November 28, 1994, the bank approved a grant for $750,000 to carry out a feasibility study for solid waste management.
In May 1997, another grant was given to assist with solid waste management – this time for $800,000. In the same month, $100,000 was granted for a feasibility solid waste management project.
Lastly, in February 1999 the IDB granted $33.5m for another solid waste management project. Of that amount, the Bahamas has received $21m to date and has repaid the IDB $15.8m of the grant.
Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Leader Branville McCartney yesterday said that these allocated funds should be accounted for.
“No one is saying what happened to that money. Had they put what that money was allocated for in place, we wouldn’t be here this afternoon I’m quite sure,” he added
Ternielle Burrows, a community activist, said environmental issues aren’t “addressed sufficiently” in this country.
“We’re not sure exactly how the issues are being dealt with. We’re not sure exactly how or where the funding is going. We need answers and we need results. We need solutions as opposed to just lip service,” she stressed.
Yesterday, Assistant Commissioner of Police Leon Bethel did not expect the demonstration to turn violent, notwithstanding a security advisory issued by the United States Embassy in Nassau warning American citizens to avoid the protest.
“I’m very impressed with the conduct of the organisers because they set their own parameters and it seems as if they are sticking to their design and we really appreciate that,” ACP Bethel said yesterday.
On Friday, in a brief security advisory, the embassy said “for security reasons all US Embassy employees, and their dependents have been instructed to avoid the immediate vicinity of this protest”. The embassy also advised that demonstrations intended to be peaceful have, at times, turned confrontational and escalated into violence.
Comments
HarryWyckoff 8 years ago
Correction - well over a thousand at final count. And 100% peaceful too.
Now we need those numbers out for anti-corruption marches, FOI marches, women's rights marches, domestic abuse marches and every other issue this country faces.
Publius 8 years ago
Exactly. Tell that to the press that at least in this story, saw the need to interview our police about what the press believed the US believed about our marching for our lives. This is very telling of how Bahamians see themselves and the agendas that exist in Bahamian media houses. At no time did Bahamian authorities, even government politicians who you thought might be upset, indicate that violence or disturbances of any kind were anticipated or feared. Yet a US advisory made the Bahamian media see a Bahamian event in The Bahamas as something that it was not. Even after the media itself was there and saw with their own eyes how peaceful and wonderful the event was, they still saw the need to question the police on what did not exist and never did exist.
sheeprunner12 8 years ago
What about right to a decent, transparent, responsible, progressive, fair, and caring government???????? .................. Where can we get such a thing??????????? ......... everything that we suffer from comes as a result of a lack of government (ourselves)
Publius 8 years ago
It is a disgrace the way the Bahamas media downplayed the turnout and accomplishment of this initiative. Both papers are leading in print and online with photos showing 3 to 4 people max, that is an absolute travesty when over one thousand people took part. Photojournalism is a critical and indispensable part of the story media houses tell the world. The media can lead with aerials of a crowd at Carnival or a political rally, but when the people stand up for their very lives and do so in a well organized and mature manner - it gets treated like a random souse out by the media. The stories in print also do no justice to what took place. Anyone who was not there or was not following the event in real time would, by the media reports, believe that this was just a little event with a few ticked off people venting for the time being - which means the media has failed in giving the true and accurate picture. I guess next time, such initiatives need to be primarily sponsored by certain infamous expatriates in order to get the press they should in their own country.
sheeprunner12 8 years ago
Too many white people on the parade ........... that means it's pro-FNM (that is why the media scared to promote it) ........ remember Nygard, Toogie and Bobo???????
Publius 8 years ago
I don't know why you think skin color bares logical relevance to the specific points I raised about media coverage, but to each his or her own.
sheeprunner12 8 years ago
Everything political in this country has to do with skin colour ....... where do you live?????? Finland or Japan???????
Publius 8 years ago
This march was not political. I live in The Bahamas, where people seem almost wholly incapable of discerning anything in this country for its true merit and can only view things through the eyes of partisan support - often rabid and tribal in nature.
sheeprunner12 8 years ago
Pubby .......... when a group is going to march against government over management of the public dump when a major international conference is going on (hosted by the government) ......... is that not political?????? ....... and who do the majority of white Bahamians support politically???? ...... but you live in a wonderful bubble, so cheers
EnoughIsEnough 8 years ago
i agree with Publius - the coverage could have been much better. the media have drones - they could have attempted aerial footage. they could have found out the true number before guessing themselves - there were many "people" counters and even the police i believe estimated close to 1500 - so between 1000 and 1500 were there. this was a momentous and meaningful event in the Bahamas and to be so downplayed by the media is sad. i was there and friends were there and so many people indicated this was one of the most important things they had ever done and felt like they finally could be heard.
Publius 8 years ago
And actually, they would not have even needed drones for those who may not have them. The march was bordered by hotels - a simple shot from any of those buildings or another appropriate elevation would have provided a journalistically accurate photo. To photographically represent over 1,000 people as only 3 or 4 is not journalism at all, it is lying. And one should question why the media took the slant it did with once again repeating the US advisory on an event that had no violent incident or disruption of any kind, and with presenting an overall downplay in reporting. Notice that no government official was questioned about the march? Notice no one attending the IDB closing was questioned - even though the march was in part planned because of the critical context of IDB funds having been granted to The Bahamas years prior for landfills in Nassau and the Family Islands? People believe that one media house over another is more concerned about truth. That is not true. What they are concerned about is agendas, and sadly, the public is almost never the wiser about what those agendas are and what they look like when presented to us.
John 8 years ago
The fact is the dump cannot continue to function in its present site. Make the decision now to relocate it to a site off New Providence and set a time frame of 2 h3 years. Then DO IT!
Publius 8 years ago
That sounds too much like actually getting a job done right and for the good of the nation.
Zakary 8 years ago
The fact is the dump cannot continue to function in its present site. Make the decision now to relocate it to a site off New Providence....
There’s a pretty penny to be made in the waste management industry if one can form a short term business plan to do just as you suggest. Last I heard, anything involving waste management http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/24/news/..." title="waste industry" target="_blank">can now be even more lucrative than a college degree, because it is such a high demand, low supply service.
Publius 8 years ago
Bottom line - nothing gets done in this country unless someone is getting a kickback, and even then, the job is done piss poor - so that more kick backs can arise in order to fix the problems. Add to that the inevitable waste that comes from government management of services and you have the systemic rot that no one aspiring for power seems remotely interested in, knowledgeable about or competent in truly addressing and fixing. The type of political will required to address our problems would necessitate a politician essentially working himself or herself out of a job. How many aspiring politicians do you know who would enter politics to get kicked out of it shortly thereafter for doing what the country needs done? Once power is tasted or even imagined, the thirst and hunger for the same becomes immediately insatiable.
Honestman 8 years ago
Spot on pubilus. This is a huge project of vital importance for New Providence but nothing gets done because grubby politicians have not received the kick back they think they can get. Disgusting bunch.
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