Dr Rita Pemberton
SANITATION was not considered a pressing issue by the administration in Tobago until the cholera pandemic, which lasted from 1846-1860, spread to the Caribbean.
The first cases in the region were identified in Cuba in 1833-34 and again in 1851; Jamaica in 1850; the Bahamas in 1852; and from 1854 it spread from the northern Caribbean to the south, affecting Nevis, Antigua, St Thomas, Tortola, Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent, Grenada, Barbados and Trinidad.
The presence of cholera in the region stimulated a frenzied panic reaction from the administrations, all ill-prepared to deal with an outbreak of such magnitude.
The fact is that living conditions in the post-emancipation communities of the British Caribbean were extremely poor. The mass of the free population lived jumbled in ad-hoc settlements devoid of basic infrastructural provisions, which made them prone to disease.
News of an outbreak in a neighbouring island triggered futile attempts to prevent its entry, since the existing trading arrangements facilitated transmission from one island to another, while crowded living conditions permitted rapid spread from the ports into the defenceless communities.
In Tobago, on August 24, 1853, the Sanitary Act, to make sanitary regulations for the towns of Scarborough and Plymouth and inhabitants of the rest of the island, was passed by the new Board of Health. Its stated purpose was to secure the cleanliness of the towns and districts and the health of the inhabitants.
This was a herculean task, which, it was assumed, could be achieved by laws, in an island which, up to that time, had paid no attention to sanitation and the social well-being of its freed African population. There was hope that Tobago would escape the scourge of cholera through the rules and regulations, which were assented on November 2, 1854.
It is necessary to note the social state of Tobago during the immediate post-emancipation years. There were striking differences between the environment around the plantation houses and those of the African workers in the communities.
The grounds around the plantation houses were laid out with gardens which reflected the social status of the occupants. In stark contrast were the hovels in which the mass of the population lived.
Firstly, the yearning for freedom stimulated the formation of a series of unplanned communities across the island which reflected the strong desire of the freed Africans to establish independent existences away from direct planter control.
However, there was no provision for infrastructure in these settlements, no access roads, no provision of potable water - the choice was to negotiate access to plantation water supplies, which would be obtained only on terms which compromised their independence and ongoing wage negotiations with their former owners-cum-employers; or resort to nearby rivers, ponds and streams.
Regardless of the quality of their water, the island's watercourses were critical for the survival of post-emancipation commu
