Dear Editor,
In response to Mr. Mario Bannister’s letter “Fighting for Clifton” in today’s Nassau Guardian. My letter of January 22nd was not solely a criticism of the current conditions of the parks environs but to also draw attention to a problem that plagues the entire country, that of illegal dumping.
Mr.Bannister, challenges to cleanup efforts at Clifton for damage sustained during Hurricane Mathew notwithstanding, much of the rubbish observed and photographed during my recent visits to the park, piles of old tires, shipping pallets, discarded appliances, stems directly from illegal dumping. The myriads of soda cans, beer bottles, plastic waste and Styrofoam food containers that litters the beach and wetlands are without any doubt deposited, much of it quite recently, by Bahamian beach goers.
At Clifton on Sunday morning past, my wife and I picked up and carted away a large pile of beer bottles, rum bottles, juice containers and plastic cups left piled on the beach by the previous days/nights’ party animals. Waste disposal containers here are few and far between.
In my opinion, this entire area should be declared a National Park and be placed under the administration of the Bahamas National Trust. I recently visited their Primeval Forest Park a stone’s throw up the street from Clifton Park and despite many of the larger trees, ferns and Tillandsias having been ravaged by the hurricane, the place was Clean, Green and Pristine. No food, beverage or dumping permitted here.
Despite the more recent efforts of various environmental organizations and government to clean up the island and until Bahamians can be made to refrain from their disgusting habit of disposing of things by simply throwing them on the ground, our islands including most of our parks, beaches and Sacred Spaces will continue to look like what they’ve become, a dump!
Ian Mabon
January 31, 2018
