|
|
|
"Climate Change"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
By T.C. Phipps-Benjamin
Our Federation cannot escape the damning effects of climate change. Ocean and atmospheric temperatures have seen record-breaking numbers and notable variations. Our beaches have been ravaged by the ruinous onslaught of violent storms while our landscape has been subject to the merciless blows of never before seen category 4 and 5 hurricanes. Experts predict the extreme swings in our climate will continue at alarming rates.
Despite the uphill battle in combating what nature has meted out to planet earth, much to man's credit, efforts to protect our planet have been diligently pursued, albeit challenging. In fact, the world over, an active "green campaign" has found a home. In the midst of countless obstacles, the term "going green" is making inroads, with a view to change people's attitudes to protect our planet. Government agencies and special interest groups are undertaking Herculean conservation efforts that include water and land conservation, the preservation of natural habitats and animal wildlife, paying special attention to utilizing natural energy resources, and studying more cost efficient ways to depend less on oil, one of the key contributors to the pollution of our planet. Man's efforts to reverse the ill-effects of pollution are in keeping with his all out war on saving our existence, at least in the near future.
Nestled in the north-east corner of the eastern Caribbean, the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis is by no means immune from the ravages of natural disasters or the overall impact of climate change. We dust planet earth with our penny size but there is a different climate change that our fragile independent nation actually finds itself yearning for; that of our political climate.
We often tout the fact that we are a free nation, renowned for our politically democratic system, a far cry from the fate of our enslaved ancestors hundreds of years ago. Yet in our moving forward politically, one cannot help but notice the tensed, divisive, and destructive political climate that hovers over our Federation like a pregnant dust cloud. All this twenty-seven years after we claimed our ability to flee the holds of Mother England and direct our own affairs.
The politically engineered disasters that our people have encountered in our political sphere have the propensity to further destroy us, and this same political tribalism is nothing more than a horrid hindrance to the social and economic development of our nation.
While our citizens are well aware of the steady erosion brought on by the politically charged climate in which we now exist, we seem hard pressed in defining strategies that can reverse the ill-effects of political polarization. We continue to stifle our ability to positively impact our political system because we fear offending our leaders. And make no bones about it, this is not a "government only" problem. On St. Kitts, the opposition faces this very challenge as well. Supporters are left in a political bind. "Weigh your pros and cons, oh ye staunch Labour comrade! Is it worth it to condemn your political leader's actions, publicly or privately, and risk being cast out of the winner's circle?” “Choose your battles wisely oh ye PAM warrior. Can you dare your leader to answer tough questions on integrity and fairness and still expect to be recognized as a “real” PAM supporter?"
Have we become so deeply entrenched in the thought of being identified by a colour that we fall short of realizing where our intuitive role as the "prized" electorate has tremendous value? Do we dread being labeled as dissenters and instead play along with our consciously "stifled" consciences, only to become active players in polluting our political environment? We know that some choices or decisions our leaders make are wrong, but so not to shake up the apple cart or run the risk of offending the political party king pins and big wigs, we lie low. The political climate stenches further by our inaction, but we say nothing.
One young lady lamented on a local radio program that having heard the last parliamentary debate, she really could not identify with anyone she cared to emulate. Opinions will clearly differ on the woman's assessment of our parliamentarians, but knowing that our young people are the direct beneficiaries of the political climate we as adults create is an indication that we must do better as responsible adults and FAST.
In our constantly evolving political environment there have been blunders by individuals on ALL sides of the political divide. Some mistakes have been extremely costly, others have somehow faded off the radar, but as human beings prone to error, we are also taught to forgive, to learn from our mistakes and make better decisions moving forward. In fact, this is a fundamental component in ensuring a balanced political climate.
We can collectively reverse the much battered political climate most of us loathe through the active involvement of our people who don't sit on Church Street, salivating over a pay check at the end of the month. Somewhere in our communities, in our schools, in our churches, in our homes, the reversal of the damning effects of the flawed political climate we encounter today rests with us. It rests with a reawakening of the minds of our citizens whereby we choose to see our people and our communities first and disregard political leanings in the dispensing of ANY deed that benefits another Kittitian or Nevisian and ultimately, our nation.
There is no manual that teaches how to redefine a nation's political climate. But every fair-minded citizen would agree that the constant "Ee A Wuk" and "Ee Nar Wuk" refrains guarantee us one thing; we will continue to reek politically and we will further deteriorate as a nation if one side continues to point its politically charged fingers at the other side for everything that happens under the sun. Touting our political stripes will merely jeopardize all hopes for a safer, cleaner, more stable political climate. In these grim social and economic times, we need to commence the campaign of "going green" where we become dedicated to finding solutions for the sustainability of our political climate.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.jpg)