Letters & Opinion

911: Emergency At The Marina

THE EDITOR:
In all its splendour, the north based IGY Rodney Bay Marina is deemed as one of the more modern attractions of our tourism industry. It attracts thousands of visitors annually to its docks, business and dining establishments. The lagoon-like harbour boasts a full service dock yard that sees vessels ranging from vintage wooden fruit boats, “turnt up” party catamarans and high-end million dollar yachts. Even when the sun sets, the marina lights up the sea scape and can be seen as glowing gem from hillside residences.

As a runner up in the Super Yacht Marina category of the 2015 Marina of the Year Awards, this location appears to be nothing short of a top of the line commodity. However, there seems to be a continuing emergency at the Rodney Bay Marina yet to be addressed. Is it a grisly homicide or an unfortunate medical emergency? Whatever the issue may be, the two unsightly ambulances parked on the side of the main roadway adjacent to the marina are a sign that the nature of the emergency is truly dire.

The run down first responder vehicles have been parked outside the marina for almost two years. Dated, covered in rust, inoperable and unused those vehicles should have long been in a scrap yard. Instead, they are parked for display outside the multi-million dollar marina and other costly well designed and built business enterprises, destroying their appeal and grandeur, an obvious and unneeded eye sore in a location booming with tourist activity.

Let’s be honest, how difficult is it to relocate them and even more importantly, whose idea was it to place them there in the first place? Do they have an owner? Too often through indifference we turn a blind eye to the issues that may seem unimportant, but yet have a simple and easy solution. Such a ‘lassiez faire’ attitude towards matters affecting tourism are a great contradiction to the fact that we tout tourism as our No. 1 revenue generating industry. One would think that appearance and aesthetic appeal of the island’s many tourist attractions would be a matter of some concern.

If we can’t see the problem with these vehicles by the marina, I now understand why many larger issues like dense pollution of our rivers and the Castries Harbour and the island-wide indiscriminate littering of garbage exists. So my 911 to the Gros Islet Town Council or maybe the Mayor is for urgent rectification of that unsightly situation for as in true St. Lucian style, unattended, it will likely only grow worse. We must remember St. Lucia ‘Simply Beautiful’, it is a beautiful catch line and so we must live it.

Angie Murray

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