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Protecting Our Irreplaceable Resources
Our coral reefs have been plundered, our beauty spots overrun by litterbugs, our endangered plants and wildlife have been decimated for profit. There's an old saying that goes something like this: "When you're up to your waist in alligators, it's hard to remember that your original objective was to drain the swamp." That must be the reason for Jamaica's failure to adequately protect its environment. Jamaica faces many challenges.
With a population of nearly three million, the tiny island is hard pressed to provide adequate employment, education, health care, transportation, housing, public safety, and other necessities of life. Furthermore, politicians must deal with the unrealistic expectations of a populace perched outside the window of the richest country in the world, witnessing its materialistic excesses and coveting its bounty as it is; therefore, not difficult to understand why successive Jamaican governments have sold the island's birthright for a bowl of pea soup. People have to eat. But think of the price the island is paying.
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It is sacrificing irreplaceable resources for transitory rewards. Bauxite mining has ravaged the landscape, and instead of learning from its mistakes, Jamaica is in the process of opening up more precious land to the strip miners. Even a national treasure like the Cockpit Country is not safe. The Land of Look Behind is in danger of disappearing beneath the bauxite miners' heavy machinery.
That would be unthinkable - or would it? Isn't it unthinkable that people would poison the Rio Grande to harvest fish? Isn't it unthinkable that they would dig up precious beach sand to mix concrete? Isn't it unthinkable that scarce agricultural land would be paved over for grandiose development and transportation projects? I could go on and on.
Our coral reefs have been plundered, our beauty spots overrun by litterbugs, our endangered plants and wildlife have been decimated for profit. Jamaica's leaders have been too busy dealing with political "alligators" to keep a sufficiently watchful eye on the environment. That's a shame. Protecting the environment should be Jamaica's number one priority, not something that would be nice if we could afford to do it. Jamaica's most valuable resource is not bauxite, not sugar, not agriculture, but its natural beauty. And once that is lost, it can never be recaptured.
