Minister of Education Ronald Jones has lambasted Barbadians who he said were quick to believe what outsiders said about the quality of the island’s water rather than local officials who had hands-on, everyday knowledge.
Although he did not directly address the United States Embassy’s recent health caution pertaining to the use of local tap water, Jones reiterated that Barbados’ potable water supply, which was not connected to the sewerage system, was safe.
The embassy recommended, through an advisory on its website last week, that its staff boil their drinking water or use bottled water after tests at some embassy residences had revealed “elevated levels” of bacteria in the tap water.
The advisory did not state where the water tested originated, if it came directly from Barbados’ water supply or by way of water tanks connected to the said properties. The embassy, however, said it would continue to monitor the situation and provide updates accordingly.
Jones, speaking at the Erdiston Teachers’ Training College’s graduation ceremony on Saturday at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, voiced a fear that Barbadians were not being as analytical as they were known to be.
“There are persons on Facebook asking you, ‘Are our sewage system and water system one and the same?’, and then strangers to our shores don’t know that we do not use open-sourced systems, as if you go into New York or one of those massive catchment areas for water. So they have made mistakes in their analysis of our potable water and potable water supply – but Bajans believe it.
“That frightens me because it says that there is something happening with the heart and the head of Bajans who hitherto were referred to as ‘the most sensible people on the face of the earth’.”
Jones added: “But when myself and Senator [Harry] Husbands, at five minutes to 7 o’clock every morning discuss these realities . . . we are shocked as educators as to where our people’s heads are going and essentially on what is happening here.”
The minister said he wasn’t trying to muzzle anyone’s voice, but did not want future generations to become dumb because of falsehoods and “fake news”. (SDB Media)
