Tranquility Wrapped in Trash
Dear Editor
“Tourism is the key”. That is a good slogan but all slogans require proper follow up to be effective. I applaud the effort made prior to the tourist season to clean up our roads and beaches. It was quite obvious that it was much better and showed that we do understand the importance of maintaining our environment and the impact it has on the first impression our visitors have as they arrive.
It seems that the dates that the holidays occurred on this year did not coincide well with the trash pickup schedule. For two weeks we were treated to overflowing bins, trash scattered about by various animals and blowing around in the Christmas winds. These weeks being the most busy on the island helped create record amounts of trash and, at the same time, subjected these all important visitors to the visual impression that the island is trashed. The final result is that much of the work accomplished during the cleanup is now reversed.
I point this out in hope that those in charge of trash collection scheduling will give this some thought and, in the future, consider off schedule pickups during heavy holiday periods of tourist activity. This is all part of living up to the image we would like to project to the tourist community.
A Concerned Citizen
