Letter of the Day | Implement laws, fines for those who consistently burn garbage
Published:Thursday | June 27, 2024 | 12:06 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
I work from home and rely on fresh air in my home office. I have no air conditioning because of the high cost of electricity, so I rely on fresh air. Over the past three evenings, the smell of burning wood has been permeating the air and invariably stays in the house where I work. I have called the police on numerous occasions and have had no conclusive response to have the matter stopped, so I no longer bother to call them. The advertisement of the Forestry Department says that it is illegal to light a fire or operate a coal kiln within one kilometre of a forest reserve; however, there is no reference to communities where people live and work. The elderly have to live in our community and clearly, the person or persons burning this coal have no care for those of us who live here.
NEPA, which should be the environmental planner and enforcer, has no contact with which to copy them this email, so I am left to choke and cough on my own. I suppose I will need a committee of several communities to get any action from the Government, whose purpose does not appear to include the well-being of citizens.
In Jamaica, it has evolved that most citizens mind their own business if they are not immediately affected by the actions of a few. So, the affected individuals have to ‘hug it up’, because we fear for our lives or our reputations being tarnished by the political class (for their partisan purposes) and the connected ones. It is increasingly clear to me that the Government has neither the ability nor capacity to manage the affairs of the country to the benefit of the citizens, only their parties, families and friends. This leads to many unnecessary problems.
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT
To get the coal/bush burning to stop in communities requires laws that will incur fines on those who consistently burn their garbage, as well as the cuttings from their yard. The practice affects many who do not wish to live in a smoke-filled home. Community management should be a local government function since the issues affecting communities cannot be seen from the hills of St Andrew, and the councillor who won the last election has not been here, and, most likely, knows nothing of these conditions affecting those of us whose taxes pay his salary. Then again, neither did most of them before him. Neither have we heard from the member of parliament (MP), who I’m sure will change with the upcoming election due next year.
Now that the Constitution is being revised, local government must be enshrined in it to enable and empower all citizens to manage their affairs. Remote councillors and MPs seem to be too busy making their living to be concerned with issues that affect those of us who are not politically tied to them or their party, or in their business endeavours. There are many issues relating to our community, and none of the political parties have been here to express an interest in enabling our visions for our community. They only speak to us via media of what they intend to do to us, and in our interest, having never asked us what we had in mind or what our experiences are. Meanwhile, I’m choking on someone’s coal kiln smoke and burning bush.
HUGH M. DUNBAR