Less of one scandal after another
Okay, okay, 2018 has come to a close. What a year it was! There were many ups and downs. Some of the changes came so fast we could hardly catch our breath. We started 2019 with rough weather for some parts of the island as our environment warned us that we should not treat it carelessly. So, let’s get going and do what has to be done. We also started the year with efforts to clean up the country by banning some of the much-discussed plastic bags and styrofoam containers. Many are predicting now that this will be a rough transition as we have got used to these types of packaging, but if we can break the plastic habit it will be worth it.
Many are already looking forward to a time when we won’t see as many plastic bags, bottles and styrofoam lunch boxes clogging drains, streets, rivers and coastlines. Birds and other creatures around us will be well pleased to find that they can go about their lives without fighting the odd scandal bag or three.
Most people will agree that plastic bags and the environment are not such a good mix. There are those who say, “Tek time, mek haste,” while others say “full speed ahead!” Granny used to warn us that we will have to put things right, even if we think we’re not fully ready yet. “Get going,” Granny reminded us, too. “If you are doing something worthwhile, mek sure you do it well.” Sounds like good advice to me.
Well, we’ve been talking a lot these days, but it is the “doing” of which there is very little. If we agree on taking care of the environment these days, then we should make every effort to get it right. The businesses that can provide better alternatives to the plastic monster should be given as much assistance as possible to spread the word that options are out there. For those people who used the scandal bags as garbage containers, they must be assisted by having the authorities improve garbage collection so that we can make a proper effort at keeping the country clean.
Just as we are reducing scandal bags, we must reduce the other kinds of scandals too. We have spent much of the year now past chewing on one “scandal” or another. The big ones included our likkle-bit of taxpayers’ money which was being spent in ways that we couldn’t quite understand. Questions have been asked and answers given. Lights were turned on to chase away the shadows of secrecy, and hopes for more transparency came out.
We seem to have new-found interests in how public spending is done. We need to realise that we can’t keep up the nine-day wonder attitude. If we don’t actually do something to keep tabs and checks on how we treat the business of governance we will be waiting just as long as it takes one of those styrofoam boxes to break down before things are set right.
Indeed, we are concerned about how some things have uspet everyone in recent times. This is understandable, but we can’t just walk away. We all have the opportunity to take part in what happens in our country. It is true that we won’t always agree on how we go forward, but we can all play our part to make sure we steer the ship right in 2019.
What I am most looking forward to in 2019 is “less”. I know, I know… everybody wants more for the year ahead. So why am I saying less? Granny would say “less is more”. I want less acts of violence and wickedness. Less occasions for grief and anxiety over crime. Less reports of arguments which turn deadly. Less death and destruction on our roads. Less times when we ask ourselves, “Is what really a gwaan?”
Everybody wants to see an end to the horrors of crime in our communities. Okay, then, let us do our best to be strong and positive. Let’s not sit around losing hope every day and night. It’s a new year and a new time. Thanks for the hope and fellowship that is shared.
This is a new year and a new hope as our Jamaican family looks ahead. We look forward to the journey we will share. Let us remember to stop from time to time and offer thanks to the good people around us. May the blessings of the new year be every day.
Happy New Year! Walk good, dear friends.
Barbara Gloudon is a journalist, playwright and commentator. Send comments to the Observer or gloudonb@gmail.com.