People are stealing park furniture – community benches, swings, picnic tables, even grass – prompting the Government to consider installing security cameras to thwart what Minister of Environment and National Beautification Adrian Forde described Wednesday as a disgusting act of pilferage.
He condemned what he considers a small group of Barbadians for seeking to destroy the efforts of the ministry’s Clean and Green community project.
Tables cemented to the ground have been ripped out, said Forde. At Harmony Hall, Christ Church and Church Village, St Philip, grass and plants have been stolen. At Weston, St James, garbage has been dumped in the park.
The National Conservation Commission (NCC) has also been facing the challenge of benches and chairs being stolen from beaches, Forde said.
The minister declared: “It is being investigated today as I speak. I am saying today, that if and when those persons are found, that I will do every single thing to ensure that they are able to come face to face with the legal system which is in place not only to protect the citizens of this country, but we have a duty to protect our biodiversity, our ecosystems, and our green systems.”
Speaking to journalists at the launch of the development of the grounds of the National Disabilities Unit, at Maxwelton, Collymore Rock, Forde said he was unable to give an estimated value of the items stolen from the recreational spaces. But he noted that the thieves were robbing the project not only of money but also of the spirit of those involved in the project.
Forde said: “It clearly shows that the persons who are doing this don’t have any common sense. But I can assure you that every cent counts. We are putting up cameras and I don’t have to discuss where they will be put. But we are going to track these persons. If they are groups, if they are lawless individuals, whoever they are, I am saying today bring this maladaptive behaviour to a screeching halt. It is unacceptable especially in these harsh economic times.”
Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Cynthia Forde also voiced concerns about the growing trend which she said has left her ashamed, disappointed, and angry.
She noted that the development of the grounds at the Disability Unit was the Ministry of Environment’s seventh project, and warned anyone contemplating removing any of the recreational equipment from the park.
Barbadians must understand that facilities Government has been investing millions of dollars in developing belong to the state and persons should not be stealing from them, she declared.
The People Empowerment Minister said: “Criminals are coming and taking away this distinguished equipment that we have here to help people who do not know or cannot help themselves. It is wrong, it is unreasonable, it is selfish and wicked and I implore you Mr John Hollingsworth [Director of National Disabilities Unit] and your team, put up the cameras let us catch some of those vandals because it cannot be somebody who is walking who is moving it. It has to be somebody with transportation or bodies with transportation destroying the good fabric of Barbados where we as a people share, care, we uplift.
“For us to be spending the taxpayers’ money and for these hard men and women in the NCC and the other departments associated with the beautification to be putting in their energies to be using those last sums of funds to make Barbadians get an opportunity to get out of the house now that it is COVID, for others in the dead of the night to be removing the equipment I say it is wrong and it must be stopped.”
She added a significant void in the lives of disabled people will be filled when the rehabilitative and recreational facility is completed, as its development would assist the unit in meeting several of its major objectives.
“I am aware of the high demand for this project in communities and am extremely grateful that this site has been chosen for this recommencement after the national pause,” she said.”This is a thoughtful gesture to Persons with Disabilities as we observe the Month of the Disabled. It is also a pioneering effort as there is currently no recreational facility in Barbados, designed primarily for use by persons with disabilities.”
(anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb)
