WHERE IS THE HONESTY?

Honourable Minister Elvin Nimrod, where is the honesty in your decision to authorise the truck drivers of Carriacou to take sand on the beaches of Mt. Pleasant?

A delegation from the community of Mt. Pleasant, Grand Bay and surrounding areas, sometime last week went to speak to the Honourable Minister of Carriacou & Petite Martinique Affairs about the damaging effect "sand mining" is having on the beaches of Mt .Pleasant and Grand Bay in particular, and other areas namely; Sabazan, Tibeau and the eastern frontier in general.

As we understand it, after this meeting, the Minister gave instructions to the (Ag). Permanent Secretary, Ms. Alexis to construct and erect three (3) sign boards in the respective locations, namely; Mt. Pleasant, Tibeau and Grand Bay.

These boards were properly erected forbidding the removal of sand from any of the above named beaches. In less than forty-eight (48)  hours after the erection of those sign boards, the Honourable Minister was heard to be authorising the truck drivers to do the very act that he had sought to stop a couple of days ago.

One gets the impression that he may have been ordered to do so by the truck drivers. In short, they, once again got the go-ahead to continue the destruction of the beaches at Mt. Pleasant. It is interesting to note that, at the meeting with the Permanent Secretary which, incidentally, was supposed to be with the Minister, we had proposed two (2) alternative sites for the removal of sand, and these were Belmont and Lapelle - sadly, the truckers would have none of it.

We had always entertained the idea that Mr. Nimrod acted in the interests of the citizens. At no time did we expect Mr. Nimrod to use his powers to benefit any special interests group (in this case the truckers) at the expense of the people of Mt. Pleasant, Grand Bay and the surrounding areas, who use these beaches.

We are quite clear that the Honourable gentleman would not like to see his mother, brother or sister's grave stone in the sea as is the case in Tibeau . One does not have to look far to see the damaging effects of uncontrolled sand mining. Take a look at Sabazan for example, the main bridge there has collapsed as a direct result of sand mining.

In actual fact, what used to be called the Island road is now severed in half. In Mt. Pleasant and Grand Bay, there is no shore line. As the water comes inland, any time there is high tide. The truckers will tell you that they have to wait until the tide is low before they can dredge the sand.

It was to our great delight when some time last week, the Honourable Minister of Tourism, Minister Brenda Hood was high in praise for the deportment of Gravel and Concrete in the way they were caring for the environment.

She said: "sand mining had a devastating effect on the country". We agree wholeheartedly with the Honourable Minister and say how thoughtful. It is quite a pity that she was there expressing a personal opinion rather a policy.

It must be widely known and accepted that Mt. Pleasant and Grand Bay sand does not belong to Minister Nimrod to give away. The beaches belong to all the people - Mt. Pleasant and Grand Bay included. It is also widely known that for the past thirty-five (35) years, Mt. Pleasant was the main area for sand mining. The consequences are also widely known.

However, it continues to baffle us how could a Minister in Government let alone our own Minister seek to play one group against another, with such an important an issue I.e, the future of our community. This conduct by the Minister has proved to be very divisive when there is absolutely no need for it.

One can only come to the conclusion that the Minister does not care if the people of Mt .Pleasant and Grand Bay disappear from the earth, which is a consequence of this act. But it must be said that the truckers with the Minister's authorisation, will have to take a lot of sand to achieve this result.

At the moment there are five (5) Dwelling houses now under construction in Mt. Pleasant. It is estimated that approximately $3.5 million is presently spent on these buildings.

This is certainly one of the ways of putting bread on the table for truck drivers not taking away bread from them, which is the argument they put forward for taking the sand at Mt. Pleasant. Even the owners of these buildings agree that although they will like to use the sand for the purpose of construction, because of the state of the beaches and the erosion presently taking place, they would prefer that sand  be taken from some other location and/or locations.

While all of this is going on, it is reported that some truckers displayed share arrogance on one member of the Mt. Pleasant community. We  know for a fact that one truck driver has issued threats against one of the members of our delegation.

According to the Trucker, he is prepared to take a jail for Mt. Pleasant people. This is a clear case of downright intimidation and it seems that the truckers feel they have a right to do as they please since they have the ear of the Minister - how unfortunate. It is our view, that the Minister has violated this trust we placed on him.

It was the late Baine Lee who once said that: "Making commitments generate hope. Keeping commitments generate trust". At the end of the day you gave a commitment to do one thing - stop the removal of sand from our beaches and in the same breath you did quite the opposite - authorise the tuck drivers to continue the removal of sand from the same beaches.

It is well known that quite a number of us once lived outside of Carriacou, but we are back now and  also know that  governments should act in the general interest, and that it matters not which government is in office, right is always right, and wrong is always wrong.

It is never our desire to stop the truck drivers from making a living and even if they are made to believe that, we will continue to fight for what is right in our community.

Mr. Minister, you must remember that God is a God of fairness and justice, (Isaiah 6 1:8). He, like us, the people of Mt. Pleasant, Grand Bay, Tibeau, Sabazan and the wider Carriacou community, is watching what is happening..

Citizen of Mt. Pleasant

OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR