A safe, green space at Ashby Land

by Randy Bennett

By the end of this week, residents of Ashby Land, Christ Church will have a greener, safer space in their community.

As part of Phase 2 of the Ministry of the Environment and National Beautification’s Clean and Green project, the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) on Monday began clearing a section of the community which had been untidy for some time.

SSA public relations officer Carl ‘Alff’ Padmore told Barbados TODAY that all bulk waste in the area would also be removed as part of the project. He said Ashby Land was the second community to benefit from the Clean and Green project, following similar work in constituencies in St George North.

He said it was expected the work would be completed by Friday.

“Today . . . what you will witness is the removal of bulky waste from the residents. This is the rainy season and the rain is so unpredictable, so we’ve asked them to bring out those things from under the cellar and in the backyard that they don’t want.

“We have a crew here of two trucks and a bobcat and we are going to make sure over the next 24 to 48 hours the residents of Ashby Land will feel safe and secure. They are going to be breathing nice fresh air and the children will have a safe place,” Padmore said.

“We plan to go throughout Barbados; we are going to cover all 30 constituencies. We would have started in St George North over the last two weeks and we’re going to go throughout Barbados. It’s not in any particular order. When we meet with the MPs and we sit with them, then we establish [where we will go next].”

MP for the area, Queen’s Counsel Ralph Thorne was also present as the work started on Monday morning.

He said the residents were extremely pleased to learn that the area would be cleaned and beautified.

“They are looking forward to the transformation of this social space. This space has been a central part of Ashby Land for a long time, except that it has been very, very untidy. The prospect of tidying up this area has excited the very young and the very old and we are extremely happy.

“We are happy that this is coming to the area and it gives them a new outlook and new appreciation for their area and we are happy about that,” he said.

“In the long term, we want this area to serve as an area of recycling. We have other areas in the constituency that have recycling programmes and we want this to be the central area for recycling in the community, because a lot of what we call garbage is not garbage, it is recyclable material.

“We want the residents in this area, and particularly the children, to meet here one Saturday every month and collect all the recyclables and have them hauled away. It brings the community together in a very progressive project,” the Christ Church South MP added.

(randybennett@barbadostoday.bb)