Elgin Taylor, Star Writer

The showers of rain that have recently pelted the island was welcomed from all, especially the farmers. It was perhaps unprecedented that we have had such weather conditions in the month of December. It seems to have confounded the experts and naysayers alike.

However, while the farmers shouted for joy and the general populace felt relieved, the inclement weather wreaked havoc on the infrastructure of certain sections of the island.

There were breakaways in many roads across the country and also floods. Many persons experienced damage to their homes, thereby resulting in a dampening of the Christmas spirit. These persons may have had to find extra monies to effect repairs and to make themselves and their families fairly comfortable for the festive season.

Interestingly, while most farmers rejoiced, there are those who were sad and frustrated. A significant number of them would have suffered damage to their crops that were covered for a protracted period in several feet of water. Some even suffered through the loss of animals that were washed away, lost or stolen because of the situation.

Improper maintenance

The fact that many of our roads and bridges could not stand up to the sustained pounding from the heavy rains is mostly as a result of shoddy construction and poor maintenance. The authorities need to shoulder the blame in this respect as they may not have done the necessary due diligence and awarded jobs to less than capable contractors. Indeed, even more sinister is the belief that these awards may have been made to friends and cronies with kickbacks all around. In such situations, the monies earmarked are not expended on the infrastructure, and the materials used are usually of substandard quality.

Another side of this coin is the fact that officialdom have not been maintaining our public infrastructure on a regular basis. This causes them to become worn over time and be susceptible to heavy rains and flooding.

The general citizenry is not exempted in this matter of maintaining our infrastructure. Many of us have become callous and irresponsible. We wantonly throw garbage and other forms of debris into drains and waterways. This result in clogging and flooding during heavy rains, inundating and washing away roads, crops, livestock and even humans.

Changing weather patterns

The weather patterns around the world appear to be changing from the way we know it/ There are several factors which could cause this, with the majority being man-made. We have been treated to a number of flippantly concocted catch phrases of late, the most famous of which is 'climate change.'

In the meantime, we need through education, to impress on our people how to be responsible in playing their part to nurture nature along to remain as pure as possible. This also means not to destroy our reefs or to deplete our designated fishing areas.

Questions, comments, observations? you can email me at elgin1225@yahoo.co.uk