Jaristotle's Jottings | A matter of leverage

Over the last few weeks,we have been bombarded by arguments and counterarguments surrounding the quarrelsome issue of development versus protection of the environment. Such banter is not new, but with growing international concerns about the health of the planet, local environmentalists are becoming more vocal in their opposition to governmental massacre of our land of now reduced wood and water. The Cockpit Country mining issue is one such point of contention, as is the planned concretisation of the Bernard Lodge agricultural lands.

Conflicts between developers and environmentalists are not new, and it should be noted that governments tend to lean in favour of the former under the pretext of supposed benefits for the country and its people.

Who benefits?

In any development project, the citizens, country and environment are usually on the periphery of closed-door deliberations between the principal players, developers and politicians. The developers are concerned with making viable returns on their investments. Politicians see opportunities for improving their ‘re-electability’ and lining their pockets and those of their cronies. What incentive, then, does protection of the environment offer to these power brokers?

We should by now realise that citizens, country and environment are invariably secondary to the high-flying spin-offs, real or promised, of development projects. For instance, our second-class standing is often evidenced by the illogical decisions of politicians to scrap well-advanced and ongoing projects implemented by previous administrations – projects which, had they been completed, would have redounded to the benefit of the people.

Such decisions show little regard for the monies already invested and that which will go to waste. Just imagine, therefore, how easy it is for our interests to be ignored when new opportunities and new money are put on the bargaining table.

Differing perspectives

Politicians believe in the art of ‘run with it now’ and live for the next election. The lumpen proletariat, who constitute the majority of voters in this country, live for the now with their ‘nyam ah food’ outlook, whereas environmentalists live for the next generation.

Jamaicans therefore need to understand the dynamics of the political thought process that determines what goes and what does not. The environment does not excite the lumpen. Money run things, and developers, politicians and activists know how to sow the right seeds in the minds of the lumpen, whereas environmentalists have no such leverage.

The unfortunate thing is that any degree of disregard for the environment threatens our food and water security. We have already been on the receiving end of extreme weather conditions, namely, extended droughts and significantly more intense hurricanes. Local farmers continuously face an uphill task to satisfy local demands for ground provisions and vegetables, and our food importation bill is ever-increasing. Our access to water is routinely hampered, whether by drought or as a result of failing infrastructure.

Despite all of these stark realities, our government seems hell-bent on further aggravating our already-dire circumstances, getting the better of the environmentalists because they have readily available leverage: money and promises of ‘prosperity’ or ‘better must come’.

New approach

Those who strive for a sustainable environment should not relent, but given the current odds stacked against them, they need to think out of the box in order to secure an equal footing with the politicians and developers. They need to recognise the importance of leverage vis-à-vis the minds of the future.

Notwithstanding ongoing media support and corporate social interventions, the future of the environment rests with socialising young minds to the issues. Push for increased environmental studies in the primary- and secondary-school curriculum. Push the message through social media and embrace the entertainment industry, especially given the overwhelming influence artistes exert over the younger generation.

In this conflict, leverage is everything.

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