One of favorite expressions notes and avers that, cleanliness is next to Godliness. Today we link them in the commentary that follows.
So today we note and surmise that lots of people come away with a similar impression after they have heard a good sermon preached a certain kind of way.
And for sure, the same feelings abound when certain politicians step forward with their addresses to the people.
Alas! When some of these performances are ended, practically nothing changes in the real world; thus the truth in the old saying that ‘talk is cheap, money buy land’.
In this regard, we state for the record that we are sorely disappointed with all those policies that were supposedly meant to deal with the environment.
Despite the rhetoric, this island and this nation of ours is today up to its collective eyeballs in garbage, filth and discarded hulks of derelict vehicles.
In the meanwhile, rats and other vectors of disease are enjoying a good life, smack dab in the middle of a mountain of mess.
And for sure, Bahamians and those who lead them routinely say and sometimes chat about how it comes to be that for them cleanliness is next to Godliness.
Regrettably, this is as far as it gets for very many of these same people; thus the degradation of environment that is to be seen all over this island and throughout this archipelago.
Indeed, we do not exaggerate when we say that there are neighborhoods on the island of New Providence that provide home to tens of thousands of rats and other vermin. In turn, these disease bearing pests have as their shelter tens of thousands of derelict vehicles.
The mess is to be seen practically everywhere.
And assuredly, there is talk galore about what should be done.
In times recently past, that is to say on the watch of a previous administration, the buzz word of the day had to do with keeping things clean, green and pristine.
As we recall, they had a kind of mantra," Under the theme, "Keep The Bahamas Clean, Green and Pristine...It Starts With You", the Department of Environmental Health is seeking to educate the public about the benefits of having a clean environment."
We remember well the time when, "During the Ministry of Health's Public Awareness Programme held at First Baptist Church, Parliamentary Secretary Ron Pinder said that all sectors of the community must play a role in the sustainable development through protection of the environment and the protection of the health of Bahamians."
With a rhetorical flourish, this good man went on to admonish, "We must renew our minds. We must renew and adopt a sense of personal ownership and responsibility because in the final analysis, the notions of sustainable development through the protection of our environment is both meaningless and impossible without fundamental change in and among all who live and work in our many islands."
And in the guise of the politician that he was then becoming, Ron Pinder went on to say that, "The Bahamas is provided with a unique challenge and excellent opportunity to focus attention on the benefits of a clean environment, the traditional and modern hazards to the environment and the means by which these threats may be averted."
He encouraged Bahamians to reaffirm their commitment to maintaining and enhancing the environment to secure the enjoyment by the future generation of Bahamians.
Not to be outdone, the then Minister of Health, Senator Dr. Marcus Bethel wisely indicated that, "It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the youth of our country and the residents of inner city communities, through education, must make the linkage between a clean environment and a healthy nation."
Today the flow of rhetoric continues.
The current administration pledges that it will put in place a programme, designed "to arrest the ongoing assault on the environmental integrity of our country resulting from indiscriminate dumping, unsightly abandoned buildings, derelict vehicles, excavation of hills and back-filling of wetlands, will be implemented."
This regime also promises the introduction of legislation, "to strengthen regulations and penalties against environmental offenders with respect to the disposal of hazardous material, derelict vehicles, large household appliances and unsanitary collection and storage of waste materials on private property in residential subdivisions."
Here please note that the Free National Movement as the party in power boasts as well as it promises that, "it recognizes and appreciates that conservation and enhancement of the environment are critically important to the sustainability of the economy of The Bahamas and, hence, to the economic wellbeing of future generations. For this reason the Free National Movement has incorporated the protection and enhancement of the environment into the national planning process."
All of this is well and good as far as rhetoric is concerned.
The fact remains precisely as Reverend Earle Francis noted some time ago. As we recall, this pastor of the First Baptist Church did say something to the effect that "people need to get cleaned up internally, and that would be a great start for them to start cleaning up on the outside."
After all he said, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness."
