Here is NEWS that was mailed to my readers on May 22, 1999:-
May 22, 1999 BAJAN NEWS ---------- PORTVALE POLLUTION ------------------ Waste water from the Portvale Sugar Factory.... tens of thousands of gallons of nutrient-rich organic waste water flowing freely into the Portvale gully.. giant maggots, each about an inch long, are breeding by the thousands ! There is risk of contamination of the islands water supply in the Porters/Trents/Molyneaux catchment area... there is risks to nearby residential areas such as Seaview, Halycyon Heights and Jamestown Park... the liquid will kill the fish once it reaches the Holetown Lagoon. This is the second time the Portvale factory has been found guilty of environmental pollution, the last time was in June 1996... when experts, concerned about the sudden death of fish in the Holetown Lagoon, tracked the cause back to ash waste at the factory. It is estimated that 1.6 million gallons of waste have been put in the gully since crop started this year, it has travelled one-third the distance to Holetown... it is literally CRAWLING with HUGE maggots ! The cause of this disaster was traced to a broken pump at the factory... the pump was supposed to pump water from the settling pond back to the factory for re-use.. the pump was found inoperative and the RELEASE VALVE was OPEN dumping the flow right into the gully... at approx. 1200 gallons per hour ! This did not happen accidentally.... could a "lazy" worker have opened the valve rather than fix the pump ????... could the instructions to open the valve have come from "upper" management ????? WHO was aware this was happening ??? Government's senior environmental officer has ordered the factory to clean-up the gully before the rainy season... however, the biggest challenge is that there is no way to get clean-up equipment down there... huge boulders and steep sharp bends make a land operation impossible, without destroying the gully at ENORMOUS cost and certainly not in time for the rainy season which is only about 8 weeks away at most ! An air operation using helicopters, would require destruction of the thick vegetation and canopy of spiny palm trees and other exotic tropical plants which completely shield the gully floor from the air... and would also be extremely costly !!!!! So it seems ineveitable... that the Holetown Lagoon is about to be contaminated... our water supply poisened and residents of the surrounding housing estates plagued with giant obese FLIES and other undesirable insect vermin that will hatch out of the BILLIONS of maggots and larvae in the gully... all because of stupidity, laziness, indifference or what ? MEDICAL UPROAR -------------- Dr. llaila Afrika, an African-American "expert" in natural medicine has been making sweeping statements in Barbados recently, here are some of them: 1. Black men like too much sex... that is why they have such a high incidence of prostate problems in Barbados. 2. Black people like too much food... most are eating themselves into the grave.. that is why they are sick with diabetes, etc. 3. Condoms cause problems... the powder causes cysts and tumors... the gel causes cancer and prostate disorders... condoms are a health risk ! The Barbados Association of Medical Practicioners (BAMP) has issued a warning to the public... NOT to be deceived by these ideas... they are worried that Afrika's statements may have a negative impact on the use of condoms... which they have been doing their best to promote to the public... in an attempt to curtail the rising AIDS crisis. Barbados Yacht Club ------------------- Was it EVER a racist institution ???.. Not if you believe Tony Hoad, according to him, "I had a table on Friday night that we had about five different races here but people don't know this. We don't brag but I feel we are doing our part for yachting in Barbados... so please don't judge us, come and see for yourselves; we're open." Hoad has disputed a story that said that the huge wall built more than a century ago to separate Burkes beach from the Yacht Club was built to keep out Poor Whites and Blacks. He said it was built by the British Army long before it was the property of the Barbados Yacht Club. Hoad claims that membership of the Yacht Club is open to all Barbadians irrespective of color or class. Stephen Mendes Views -------------------- Without a doubt the Barbados Yacht Club is now engaged in an elaborate window-dressing exercise... made imperative to it's continued survival by the negative publicity and the current public opinion on such matters. To attempt to hide the fact that it was formerly both a racist and class-concious institution maybe seen as necessary, by the current management. Should they be "forgiven" for the past ?... if there is no admission, then there is nothing to forgive !... perhaps that's the way they see it, but will the public buy it?... I think many black people who could afford to join the club, are aware of the past situation... this was certainly the case with the Bridgetown Club... which finally closed down. Certainly, the "older generation" of Club members can't be too thrilled that the wall is about to be opened and hordes of happy "native" younsters will be able to enjoy "their" beach ! I say they would never have voluntarily "opened the wall"... if the Ombudsman had not forced the issue.. so to claim the place is open to all colors and classes may be true NOW... but it certainly was not the direction they wanted to take.. ask yourself why was the adjacent Cruising Club built ??? ... if they were ALWAYS so willing to accept EVERYBODY ! As I understand it, the Cruising Club was built by persons who could not "get in" to the Yacht Club. My father was a member of both institutions, and I have childhood memories of both places... so why the elaborate cover-up ?? It may not be fashionable to have a "private", "elitist" institution these days but it is not illegal... the right of association is guaranteed under the constitution. They should have the b__ls to say, either: 1. We ARE an exclusive, elite club... with VERY strict "entry requirements".. so you may NOT "get-in" ! OR 2. We WERE a very exclusive. elite club... with VERY strict "entry requirements"... but we have SEEN THE LIGHT !... we realized, as a group, we were on the WRONG path... so we changed our approach and "threw open our doors for ALL to come in !" This constant attempt in Barbados to "cover-up" the past is what hinders the healing of the "racial divide"... and convinces black people that attitudes have not CHANGED.... but rather gone UNDERGROUND. SPACE JUNK Washes up at FOUL BAY -------------------------------- From the picture in the NATION (best newspaper on earth!) it looked to me like part of the nose cone of a rocket.... by the time I got to Foul Bay, the Coast Guard had removed it.
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