Hypocrisy at it's Highest

                                    
                                                   EMA Headquarters on Elizabeth Street Port-of-Spain 

Do you think it is ironical that the Environmental Management Authority of Trinidad and Tobago have carparks that are fully paved?

Well I think it is extremely ironical. The EMA is a statutory body created by the Government of T&T to address the country’s environmental problems. They write and enforce laws and regulations to manage the environment and they also educate the public about environmental issues to ensure they know what should and shouldn’t be done. So the fact that the EMA gives guidelines on what is environmentally friendly and what isn’t to citizens and they themselves don’t think about employing these guidelines makes me wonder if they really do care about the environment. Eventhough not having fully paved carparks is not a guideline set by the EMA it is just small something that they can do to show that they are fully invested in protecting the environment. It will set the right example for other institutions and businesses so not giving them an excuse to do something that will disadvantage the environment.

People may say what is the big deal with this carpark being concrete. It is small and not causing any damages to. Oh how wrong they will be. Yes the EMA carpark is just one that is fully paved but you should think about how much more of these are there all over the country. You may not think that this will have a big effect but one carpark adds up after a while. The major problem associated with areas of concrete is it impedes infiltration of water, which increases surface runoff and may lead to flooding, soil erosion and water pollution. Concrete also, contributes to urban heat islands forming. According to National Geographic (2013), an urban heat island is a metropolitan area that is warmer than the areas surrounding it. Think about Port-of_Spain, while walking through how hot it usually is and this is reflected more in the night when it’s supposed to be cooler it is still very hot. Concrete is not the only cause of this urban heat island but it definitely contributes to it. There is already so much concrete around the city that all attempts should be made to decrease it wherever possible even it is by a small amount. Lastly, the particles from concrete contribute to air pollution. They provide condensation nuclei for the formation of water droplets and may lead to rainfall that is frequent and intense which may lead to flooding when coupled with the fact that the rainwater can’t infiltrate the soil. 

Unsustainability does not only affect the environment but also society. All those effects of concrete don’t only affect the environment but they have consequences on us. The flooding is a problem for us since it impedes transportation, destroys property and life and costs governments a lot of money to fix damages done. The heat provided by the urban heat island is also a problem since it causes discomfort to citizens and may affect the health of some. While, heavy rainfall leads to flooding and has the same impacts mentioned above.

               The picture on the left is one of mine and was taken in a carpark across from the St.Clair Hospital in POS.
      The one on the right was taken from envirocrete.com to show how the carparks will be when there is grass throughout.

There is a simple solution to this concrete carpark situation and it is seen in the above photo. This solution is grassed pathways grasscrete carparks. This provides a permeable paving solution that is still strong enough to withstand heavy traffic for carparks. It allows water to infiltrate hence preventing flooding, the amount of concrete is less and in small amounts so that there is not a large collective area contributing the urban heat island from carparks and the pollution is less because there are not much loose concrete particles in the small blocks per area. The carparks should have the concrete not only for our connivance but also to ensure that cars do not trample upon the underlying soil and people and hence causing compaction. Compaction will result in the same flooding problems as fully paved carparks because the amount of pore spaces in the soil (stores water) will be reduced and therefore infiltration will also be reduced since the soil cannot store the water.

Grassed pathways are not the solution to all the environmental and social problems listed above because there are other factors contributing. But they are the stepping-stones towards solving those problems.

“Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today.” By Mahatma Gandhi

This quote shows that hypocrisy is present in democracy which is represented in my piece where the EMA is laying out environmental laws and regulations but not really attempting to achieve sustainability anyway they can. Hypocrisy is present today as the quote says.

“Hypocrisy in anything whatever may deceive the cleverest and most penetrating man, but the least wide-awake of children recognizes it, and is revolted by it, however ingeniously it may be disguised.” By Leo Nicolaevich Tolsto

What does the above two quotes mean to you?

Can you relate it to what is being said in the above piece and what the EMA is doing?

References:

Environmental Management Authority. 2011. http://www.ema.co.tt/cms/

Grass Concrete. 2012. GrassCrete Carparks. Isle Communications. http://www.grasscrete.com/docs/news/view_story.asp?id=60

National Geographic Education Beta. 2013. Urban Heat Island. http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/urban-heat-island/?ar_a=1

Waugh, David. 2002. Geography: An Integrated Approach. Nelson. United Kingdom.

Unsustainability: Environmental or Economic?

                                                      (Taken at MovieTowne Port-of-Spain)

The Bruntland Report states that even while aiming for sustainability, international economic exchanges should be satisfied to gain economically within regions. The above picture represents an area used for entertainment and relaxation for adults and children, even me. There is a movie theatre, various restaurants, a supermarket, clothes stores, jewelry stores etc. It is an establishment that provides economic gains to stakeholders, owners of businesses within the area and employees.

However, does anyone know what was in that area of land before MovieTowne?

Well I will tell you. That area used for MovieTowne was previously mangroves that were part of the Caroni Swamp that is in Invarders Bay POS. The land used to build this is reclaimed land. Reclaimed land is when new land is created from the sea. Land reclaimed for the purpose of development is often done within estuaries where there is an abundance of flat land accessible by both land and sea and areas where waste can be easily disposed (EMA Coastal Development Guidebook). That area was chosen to construct this complex to cater for the population in the Port-of-Spain area. However, it did not only cater to those as people came from all over Trinidad because it was the only area that offered entertainment of that type.

There are various negative impacts of land reclamation. According to Fortes (2001) land reclamation affect: natural morphology of coastal areas, coastal biological resources such as fishes, sedimentation in the reclaimed location, mangroves and reefs. In the case of MovieTowne POS the ecosystem most affected was the mangroves. Mangroves have a variety of roles that include: maintaining the stability of the coastline, preventing abrasion and intrusion, habitat for organisms and the wood from mangroves can be used for some economic purposes (Dahuri et.al. 2001). The removal of the mangroves along the Invaders Bay may have tremendous impact on the coastline in that area: flooding in that area may increase if there is a slight rise in sea level (which is predicted to happen due to global warming), in the event of a disaster such as a hurricane the coastline is very vulnerable since the mangroves that acted as a buffer is no longer there, habitats destroyed, water quality decreases and there is always the looming potential for the area that was once sea to become the sea again.

I agree that Trinidad was in need of something that could offer various forms of entertainment in one place for both adults and children. But it could have been done in a more sustainable way. An area could have been chosen where less damage to the environment would be done. This project was not only about the people but also about economic gain and an attempt to gain economically sustainability was compromised. It was viewed as a way to maximize revenue being earned by using the idea that to have a good standard of living one’s personal consumption had to be high where in this case it was the activities one took part in. According to Hall and Barrett (2012), there is a conflict between short-term economic development and long term environmental needs. This can be reflected in the fact that rising living standards are defined in terms of increasing levels of personal consumption and this is not compatible with environmental sustainability. So to achieve an economic goal the environment was placed in the background.

Currently there are plans in progress since the Government of Trinidad and Tobago gave it the ok to expand MovieTowne using the available 80acres of land on the Invaders Bay that is behind the land already in use. According to the Express Newspapers, Derek Chin and Jerry Joseph attempt to transform the Invaders Bay into to the entertainment and economic hub of the Caribbean. This will boost the economy of T&T and will be a major tourism pull factor. It will include a bowling alley, ice skating rink, pool, sporting centers, aquarium, a housing complex, the culture of T&T will be on show (Carnival, T&T’s influence from other countries such as; India, Africa and China, sporting heroes), the incorporation of major blockbusters from abroad such as: Disney, Madam Tussaud’s and Ripley’s Believe it or Not.

From the above in all the plans and what will be built there is nothing speaking to the benefit of the environment of T&T. There is only talk about what will benefit the economy and what people want for enjoyment. Nothing about what the environment needs, what could be done to give back to the environment. How much of this neglect do you think the environment can take before it gives up on us? It’s all about what we want to live our lives comfortably and enjoyably and how to make money. It’s never about how to conserve the thing that is allowing us to live and giving us what we need and want. However, I’m not saying that this project is all bad because people need somewhere to relax and have fun while; the government needs to find avenues to sustain the economy. All I am saying is that the environment needs to be considered when plans are being made and carried out. Something in this major plan should have been set up to benefit the environment because it to is important.  

This song Price Tag by Jessie J says, “It’s not about the money, money, money” and it whatever is being done anywhere in the world should never be about money. There are other more important factors to consider.

References:

Dahuri R, Rais J, Ginting SP dan Sitepu MJ.  2001.  Pengelolaan Sumberdaya Pesisir dan Lautan Secara Terpadu. PT. Pradnya Paramita. Jakarta.

Environmental Management Authority. 2011. Guidebook for Hydrodynamic Considerations in Coastal and Marine CEC Applications. http://www.ema.co.tt/docs/techServ/cec/hydrodynamic_guidebook.pdf.

Fortes M. 2001. Loss of Seagrasses and Mangroves in Asia Pacific: Bitingthe Hand that Feeds. Paper presented at the global conference on“Oceans and Coasts at Rio+10”. UNESCO. December 3-7, 2001. Paris.

Hall and Barrett. 2012. Urban Geography. Routledge Publishing. London and New York page 309.

Ramdass, Anna. 2012. The Entertainment Capital of the Caribbean. Trinidad Express Newspapers.

You Have Space For Me To??

How much more can the Hills take?

The Northern Range Trinidad (Taken from the Highway)

As the needs of the city keep on growing due to increasing amounts and varied uses the boundaries are continuously being pushed back. The city of POS is surrounded by natural landforms on both sides; there is the Northern Range on one side and the ocean on another. The Northern Range is basically on the outskirts of the city and so from the invent of the city very low income houses were near to or on these hills. This assumption related to lower income houses on the outskirts can be related to Burgess’ model of the industrial city. In his model, Burgess stated that early migrants to the city would seek cheap accommodation, which just so happened to be housing just outside the CBD (which in this case is POS). (Barrett and Hall 2012, pg 40)

So the fact that people now reside on these hills can be due to historical factors. However, in the past the number of houses on these hills has been small and has recently gone on a rampant increase. It seems to be rather obvious that the reason people reside here is because of the ease of accessibility it offers to the city and also because other areas close to the city is already occupied or beyond their budget. So yes it is important that people have homes but when is the point where it just becomes too much for that fragile environment to handle?

The Northern Range is a complex ecosystem that is bounded on the north by the coastal strip, on the south by a main road (Eastern Main Road) and on the north by POS. This range contributes freshwater for Trinidad, controls flooding, is said to be a buffer for natural disasters (hurricanes) also it provides recreation, a form of ecotourism, other economic benefits (agriculture, timber) and most importantly it is the home of thousands of different species of flora and fauna. (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005) It can be seen that the Northern Range is indispensable when it comes to the future of Trinidad and Tobago. This ecosystem is very fragile and can easily be disturbed so when trees are removed for homes to be built it obviously affects various species. Also, the noise and different environmental conditions brought along by the fact that humans now reside there also affects and changes the natural environment which in turn may lead to some destruction.

Again I will ask, how much is too much?

Currently the Northern slope has had an increase in urbanization for luxury homes hence, causing degradation of this ecosystem. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago put some legislation in place to slow down some degradation. The legislation states that construction of houses above 300 feet on the hillsides is now prohibited to regulate hillside development and protect the Northern Range.  (Taitt R 2012) This will decrease the possibility of future damage but what about the damage already done? Who will fix that for future generations?

Consider these questions: 

    Will there be any Northern Range for the future generations to enjoy like we do today? 

    Will there be any Northern Range to provide income and protection that it provides us with today?

What can u do to conserve this ecosystem?

Hall and Barrett. 2012. Urban Geography. Routledge Publishing. London and New York (page 40).

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. People and the Northern Range Trinidad. http://www.unep.org/maweb/en/SGA.Trinidad.aspx

Taitt, Ria. 2012. Government Move Against Hillside Houses. Trinidad Express Newspapers.