| ENVIRONMENTAL ENHANCEMENT DAY IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL |
GRAND TURK, Turks and Caicos Islands; Monday, June 8th, 2009 – Determined to keep the Turks and Caicos Islands “Beautiful by Nature” and “Clean by Choice” – the Environmental Enhancement Committee (EEC) - a public and private partnership of various community stakeholders of Grand Turk - were out in the nation’s capital cleaning up neighbourhoods and collecting debris to do just that.
Owing to the passage of Tropical Storm Hanna and Hurricane Ike last September, and the commencement of the 2009 Atlantic Hurricane Season (Monday, June 1st, 2009) the committee felt that it was imperative to set about clearing the natural environment of anything that may posses the potential of becoming dangerous.
The environment, a precious and fragile system - has the ability to influence health and wellbeing. It is stated that environmental considerations with regard to the storage and disposal of solid waste are of paramount importance, as the associated implications are adverse and far-reaching.
Improper storage and disposal of solid waste represents a threat to environmental and public health and appropriate interventions should be utilized to stem these practices. Individual and community health are linked to environmental conditions, which underscores the need for a concerted and sustained approach to environmental protection. In light of these factors and Saturday (June 6th, 2009) being Environmental Enhancement Day, individuals were strongly urged to clean premises in stages to facilitate efficient collections.
The EEC asked that residents collect and properly secure most of their solid waste from their properties in the days prior to the actual cleans up, with this waste then being collected. This was indeed done, as residents left bundles of plywood, zinc, and other material out by the roadside for collection, as a special concession was made for this exercise with the provision of heavy equipment to collect and dispose of bulk waste.
There were five teams disbursed throughout Grand Turk, the Kiwanis in Overback, Red Cross in West Road, Disaster Management in North Backsalina and two other roving community groups.
The Department of Disaster Management and Emergencies (DDME) team consisted of HE the Governor and Deputy Governor Gordon Wetherell and Mahala Wynns respectively in North Backsalina. “This is a job to be done,” said Governor Wetherell, “cleaning up the community, especially now as we’re coming into this hurricane season. All this is to make life the better, and it also makes it less dangerous potentially, as some of the debris could be transformed into a missile.”
Mr. Lorne Robinson, Director of Environmental Health and member of the Kiwanis Club team said that they found two snakes in the brush around Crab Tree Corner in the Overback district. “We think that they are blind snakes; however, to be certain, we’ve sent them to Jewell Batchasingh (Deputy Director of Department of Environment and Coastal Resources) who will verify their identity - as a corn snake was found earlier last month.”
Robinson went on to make mention that a lot of work and effort is being put into keeping Grand Turk and to a larger extent, the Turks and Caicos Islands clean. The Environment Director noted that after today’s exercise, persons found littering would be prosecuted to its fullest extent of the law, as every law is there to be followed.
Though this effort was coordinated by members of the Environment Enhancement Committee of Grand Turk, the Turks and Caicos Islands, like its neighbours in the region are now in the beginning stages of the hurricane season; this, in itself, should encourage preparations in earnest, including the removal and proper disposal of solid waste from around one’s property.
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