TERRENCE HONORE
THE CRIME of littering is too prevalent in TT. We are murdering our environment. We are failing to see that our bodies of water are dying with all the litter we indiscriminately throw out of cars and leave on our streets, or dump by our rivers and beaches.
The Litter Act 20 of 1973 tells us there are fines of up to $4,000 for perpetrators. But not enough people have been arrested or convicted for the careless and lawless way they dispose of their litter.
Recently, I was an eyewitness to the escalating crime of littering. I observed how a little rainfall resulted in garbage piling up in our drains. I realised that people are still littering all over the place. It's a disgrace. It is not a matter to be trifled with. It reflects a people who can be accused of being disorganised and downright dirty. Are we guilty as charged?
While some of our leaders continue to talk 'garbar' in and outside of Parliament, garbage is piling up everywhere. There should be an assessment of littering control in constituencies as a review of MPs' effectiveness, instead of just waiting to count the votes.
Yes, this is yet another lament about litter. But the intent is to get people to forsake their littering ways. We cannot continue to let litter represent who are and how we present ourselves to other countries.
Littering is a crime of the mind, but it comes from the heart. It manifests in many ways, and piles up in streets, drains and rivers. And nothing seems to be able to reduce this passion for putting things in the wrong places. Do people think that when they throw trash away it's the end of their responsibility? They are so wrong. It's the contradiction of our existence - to live in beauty and surround ourselves with so much rubbish.
Some people just love to litter. It lingers on their minds. There seems to be a 'sweet' feeling for doing the 'stink' thing of throwing garbage out of a car or bus. I can testify to that.
I recall one day while driving south along the Solomon Hochoy Highway, a few metres behind a car with three occupants, one of its passengers indiscriminately threw a bottle out of the window. It landed on the grass between the lanes, rebounded and flew up towards my windscreen. I instinctively pulled the steering wheel to avoid a collision. The car ahead slowed briefly, then sped off, leaving me to 'handle my stories.' I lived to tell the tale. Thank God. But I was left shaken and angry at that act of littering.
But the scenes of litter in our public places continue to be painful to the eye and searing to the soul. Who can vaccine us against the virus of littering that has infected many minds and resulted in pollution of our waterways? The chronic case of littering makes us sick. It's a sickness for which we must seek a cure.
Internationally, the ever-worsening statistical reviews continue to shout at us. In 2016, our nation was ranked as the tenth most toxic country in the world. In 2017, it was the turn of the W
