As a country, no one can legitimately argue that we haven’t made massive strides in our quest to continuously develop the environment in which we exist. Our strides have been recorded in numerous sectors in our society recently, most notably sports and arguably the education, health and tourism sectors. But now is not the time to argue about those sectors. This is just preamble to introduce what we would like to call a Horse and Carriage mindset that exists when dealing with issues that affect us as a people.
As a country, especially a small one, we are going to have issues to grapple with on a regular basis. How we navigate those challenges will speak clearly about the people we are or have become.
Take for example what we think is a little problem or at least a not so difficult one to solve, in animals navigating the streets/highways/roads at any time of the day or night. Many years ago, this was deemed something of a national problem with sightings spanning the island. There was a national outcry at the time and for a while it seemed we were hellbent on curing this cancer. Of late, however, the malady seems restricted to the north of the island, most evident in the Choc roundabout area.
What really are we waiting for to deal with this issue once and for all? Are we waiting for fatalities involving animals on the highway? That has happened quite a few times over the years, all over the island, including the Choc area. Are we not satisfied that enough vehicular damage has been caused by loosely roaming animals? Only last week there were two vehicles brought to significant ruin as a result.
Floating public information is that, in the case of the Cow Crossing Conundrum in the Choc area, the animals belong to one individual. If that is the case, shouldn’t it be drastically easier to deal with?
Addressing the issue after the latest accident, Agriculture Minister Alfred Prospere did say that the matter is being discussed and is being dealt with. What is disturbing is that he went on to say, or at least that’s what we understand from his statement, that road safety where animals are concerned is not the responsibility of the government but that of animal owners. While the Minister is correct about farmers having a responsibility to contain their animals, he is dead wrong about the safety on our roadways and the responsibility of the government.
If this is really what the Minister meant in his statement, it consequentially suggests therefore that after over 40 years, this two nobel laurate state, is still ill equipped to deal with a farmer and a few cows. It means that with all the strides we’ve made the Horse and Carriage mentality still persist especially when dealing with critical issues.
If we are to usher in the modern era, our decisions and issue management must be at least a bit more urgent.
As for the safety on our roads, it would be wise for the Minister to heed the words of Former US President Calvin Coolidge, “Nothing is of greater importance than the conservation of human life.”