MEMBER of Parliament for St. Michael West Central, James Paul, believes greater focus must be placed on rainwater harvesting in Barbados.
His comments came in the Lower Chamber yesterday as the debate on the Barbados Green Scoping Study continued after last week’s sitting.
Saying Government has shown its interest in preserving the future by introducing several policies including the Scoping Study, he lamented that there are those who fail to observe the law and otherwise give reasons or excuses why they cannot be implemented. He pointed to the indiscriminate dumping and the contentious tipping fee as such an example.
Paul told the Honourable House that legislation must be put in place to remind Barbadians of their responsibilities, as it relates to water and also agricultural land.
As it relates to water harvesting, he pointed out that there are countries that have less rainfall than Barbados that have successfully implemented several water-saving techniques. He said this includes the way the landscape is designed. Paul, who is also the CEO of the Barbados Agricultural Society, says the architects of today seemingly do not take into consideration how water is captured in their designs.
The parliamentary representative also made a call for urban constituencies to be beautified.
He lamented that Barbadians would rather keep a dog than livestock, which has tremendous economic benefit.
“We are at a time in our country where we need to manage our environment in a much better way.
We have to encourage our people to be able to engage in activities which a lot of Barbadians seem to look down on. A lot of Barbadians were raised keeping pigs, sheep, growing lettuce. Instead of kitchen garden, we put concrete.”
The parliamentary representative also challenged the land space to be utilised at Duke’s in St. Thomas by the University of the West Indies for research purposes. He lamented the fact that the agricultural sector was not consulted on this matter. Paul stressed that more emphasis must be placed on planting crops rather than erecting field research buildings on the property.
As it relates to preserving the environment, he pointed to Turner’s Hall Woods, which he said must be protected through increased monitoring.
He lambasted persons driving all-terrain vehicles and other “high wheel” vehicles which, he lamented, are destroying the land. As such, he suggested that greater taxes should be placed on these vehicles.
He stressed that when these areas are deforested, they compromise the land’s ability to absorb rainfall, which leads to increase flow of water and flooding in other areas. (JH)
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