Friday 3rd April 2009
I am now out of the hospital, at home, and doing great. In the early of hours of Saturday 21th March 2009 I got into an accident involving a machete and had to be rushed to Emergency at the Joseph N France General Hospital.
This was the FIRST time in my life that I had ever been to a hospital for any kind of serious treatment, beyond having wax in-my-ear, so I maintained an open mind, and tried not to be anxious or critical of the service. This hospital experience was not what I had expected it to be, given the legacy of politically motivated negative rhetoric propagated and peddled from more than 30+ years ago, which some people to this day may have come to believe and accept as gospel.
I must say THANK YOU to the Medical Staff, and EVERYONE who in any way aided in my treatment and recovery. including my visitors, callers and messengers. In short order I will communicate with all ‘callers’ and ‘visitors’ listed in my VISITOR’S BOOK. Of course 101% of the THANKS and PRAISE goes to JESUS CHRIST, the Prayer Warriors at home and overseas, and the praying Christian community, who know what is going on, not just in ‘Sugar City’, but on this planet, why it is happening now, what has to be done about it, and who are actively doing something positive about it. I will resume my lamentation on this topic tomorrow. I sometimes wish that some of the people with plenty chats in their backyard can also put pen to paper, and share their views and comments with everyone. I am no talker so I have to scribe.
Some persons are rather upset because I had to be hospitalized on Saturday 21st March. I am not upset by the seeming inconvenience of being in the hospital for a week, because I had time to PRAY, REFLECT, PLAN and SCHEME, 24×7. It is still the best ‘retreat’ one can have. However the activity leading up to the hospitalization is what is upsetting to some people, and they may be justified in their view, and I hope that something positive can come out of my sacrificial experience.
I live on Westbourne Ghaut, that is between Greenlands and Dorset Village. My family property is located at the junction where Shadwell Road meets Rectory Road and Martin Luther King Avenue. These three [3] roads can be viewed on Google maps, while other seemingly important roads are not. Many persons will recall the short cut and foot path over the ghaut from Dorset to Greenlands, where we expect to have a real ‘foot bridge’ built some time before 2012, to replace the home made ‘plank bridge’ shown in the photo below, to ensure the safety of our school children and citizens especially during the rainy season, and when the ghaut is running.
Over the last couple years this area of the Ghaut, West of our residence has been erratically maintained. The grass and shrubs are cut down at Independence time, Christmas time, and whenever there is an expected influx of visitors and returning Nationals, and whenever it becomes a hazard and safety threat for school children, especially the schoolgirls. I have lived here since 1950 so no one has to tell me about this part of Westbourne Ghaut. I recall that the last grass cutting exercise was performed by the guests from HMP after some residents vehemently expressed concern for the safety and security of pedestrians and the school girls using this short cut.
Over the last couple years I notice that the area of the ghaut behind my family’s property running South for more than 50 meters, has not been cut down by the regular ‘environmental maintenance teams’. I do not believe that any discrimination is at play here, maybe it is just the annual coincidence or maybe they just did not get the opportunity to come back and finish the job the next day. The above photo shows the ghaut West of my residence, after last landscaping by HMP guests, while the photo below shows my South fence and the ghaut in front of it.
On 27th January 2009, when the two [2] photo immediately above were taken, I made the decision not to live in the jungle being encouraged at this end of Westbourne Ghaut, and decided to adopt-the-space immediately outside my fence on the West and South sides, as this would generally increase the ambiance of the environment, and any line of business that we wished to pursue in our backyard sometime in the future. I took these photos for my adopt-a-space photo album. It is sometimes helpful to have before and after photos to appreciate and celebrate one’s successes. The intent then, as it is now, was not to highlight any failing of any part of the country’s national environmental maintenance program. So, sunrise on Saturday 21st March 2009, almost two [2] months later, found me and my faithful machete and gloves, in Westbourne Ghaut adopting-my-space, cutting down grass, shrubs and saplings. To make a long story short, I got my left leg cut by the machete, taking nine [9] stitches, and I was in hospital for a week … for rest.
Some people are taking this matter of my hospitalization rather serious because they claim that a senior citizen like me, should not be engaged in cutting down the grass and shrubs in Westbourne Ghaut, which is supposed to be the property and responsibility of the Ministry of the Environment. I am not debating the issue because I need the exercise, and this was not the first time that I had cut down grass, shrubs and saplings in the Ghaut from behind my residence. I usually do this at least twice a year. The last time I was forced to speedily cut down the overgrowth from this river channel called Westbourne Ghaut, was that rainy morning in October 2008, when hurricane Omar was expected to pass us. The bamboo saplings, shrubs, etc., still grow in the channel of the Ghaut and are over 10-feet tall, as seen in photo below. They tower above my 6-foot chain link fence, which is sitting on our 3-block high retaining wall, which is built on top of the 6-foot concrete retaining wall, which was build sometime in the 1950’s or 1960’s by the Robert L. Bradshaw government, and runs from the tamarind tree at Whatley’s Gate up to Rectory Road.
In my blog of 18th November 2008, which you can read here, I made reference to the fact that this section of the ghaut was not being maintained by NEMA, thus posing a serious threat to life and property, to wit, our life and our property. I wrote: “I live 800 meters down the same watercourse and I had to personally cut down some of the bamboo and other saplings from this channel behind my house on the morning before hurricane Omar was expected to pass. In years gone by NEMA seemed to have a handle on that hurricane preparedness routine, but for the last 4 years or so this policy to keep this water channel clear to eliminate any chance of a blockage and backup, which ultimately threatens the safety and life of residents, must have been suspended.”
I did not read any politics into this dismally failed activity, procedure or policy by that or any associated Institution then, and I am not reading any politics into it today, because I believe that we are merely the victim of coincidence, and I will maintain that view until the 2009 Hurricane season begins in sixty [60] days time on 1st June. The question, in case you missed it, is still, whatever happened to the continuous or annual ghaut clearing and maintenance program which ensures that the Westbourne Ghaut water channel is always free and clear, to ensure that the river water runs unimpeded down to the sea, and does not put the residents and their property anywhere along this riverbank at risk, in peril or any life threatening situation? The photo below show what that ‘free and clear’ river channel behind my residence looked like yesterday 02 April 2009, when you stand on the river bed.
Or you may be more comfortable with this photo below, to better appreciate the height of the castor tree growing in the water channel. I do not know anything about castor trees, but when they are over 10-feet tall I am sure that they must be more than four [4] to six [6] weeks old.
When I started cutting down the grass that Saturday morning, I recognized that the level of the river bed had risen, and the ghaut behind our residence at some parts, were now back filled to within a foot or so from the top of the secondary 4-5-foot river bank retaining wall. This you can see in the photo below. The Kennedy A. Simmonds Administration apparently took this ghaut serious and took steps to arrest the riverbank erosion, by constructing a ‘drain like structure’ on the riverbed, between the Fry’s Village Bridge and Whatley’s Gate. The ‘device’ seems to have worked successfully so far, even though some sections of the sides have collapsed, and it is in dire need of repair, it continues to prevent the riverbank’s erosion.
The photo below may improve clarity. That is a 39.5-inch C-THRU YMS-1 metal rule sitting on the backed-up sand mound.
For comparison the photo below is of the same 39.5-inch metal rule standing in the ghaut besides the foot bridge further up river. The river bank retaining wall is the same height throughout the ghaut, from Fry’s Village to Whatley’s Gate. The difference in height in the photos above results from the sand deposited there due to the blockage caused by the saplings, shrubs and overgrowth in the ghaut, just outside my back fence.
I believe this is a dangerous situation which puts our property and our lives in extremely grave danger whenever this ghaut runs hard again, because the overgrowth in the water channel seriously impedes the river’s free flow towards the sea. Residents of Westbourne Ghaut know that this ghaut is one serious ghaut, and no one messes with it and escapes it’s fury. I believe that it is only by the Grace of God, our God fearing, Bible believing, and Praying Christian community that we did not have an historic national disaster at Fry’s Village, Greenlands and Central Basseterre in October 2008.
I hope that the appropriate authority and/or institution entrusted with our national safety and security would ensure that the plans, programs and policies designed to keep us safe and secure inside our homeland are in place and working effectively all the time and not just some of the time, and more so, not just in an election year.
In the meantime my adopt-a-space plans continue during my recuperation, but I must warn that one has to be extremely careful when adopting-a-space, and if you do adopt-a-space, please ensure that it is not hazardous to your health, especially if you are a senior citizen.
[To be continued]
Keeth France - V44KF: "Speak Now ... or Forever Hold Your Peace" 