My wife and I totally agree with Dr Frances Chandler in her MIDWEEK NATION column yesterday headlined A Fresh Start and particularly can support the statement regarding long-term visitors.
We are United Kingdom residents who have holidayed on the island at least once a year for the last 17 years.
When I retired three years ago, we decided to spend at least six months of each year here. We settled on Hastings as an ideal location with its plethora of bars, restaurants and shops and also the boardwalk, providing a pleasant stroll in the evenings. We rent an apartment near Lanterns Mall each visit, so are contributing quite well to the local economy.
When the sewage problem occurred last year, I hoped it was just a one-off, but evidently there is an escalating issue. We are now also seeing a number of rats on the boardwalk near Hastings Rock each evening, as well as increasing mosquito numbers.
It is only a question of time before there is an outbreak of illness caused by any or all of the above. We are told that the Ministry of Health is monitoring the situation closely, but I suspect they are purely focused on the sewage rather than secondary issues.
Normally by now, we would have booked in advance for our return next winter, but at the moment we have no faith that repairs will be made, so are holding off.
The occasional announcements by the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) are completely lacking in detail. The only point that comes through is that there is no short-term fix. As this problem has existed for over a year, I would have thought that was obvious. What have the experts brought in from abroad actually advised?
What is needed is a daily statement from the BWA reporting what progress has been made against a plan and what is planned for the next, so that they can be measured against it.
We love this island and its people, but we all really deserve better than the current response from the BWA and Government.
– ANDY AND CHANTAL ANGEL
