‘Shut the country down’ once a month to clean up- Sharon P. Flax-Brutus
“Since when have we become so dirty?” Flax-Brutus asked while a guest of Talking Points on ZBVI 780 AM on Monday, October 7, 2024.
At the time, the point was being made that tourism has a wide scope and this includes the environment component.
‘Shut the country down’ once a month to clean- Flax-Brutus
It was then she suggested that the Virgin Islands takes the example of Rwanda in Africa. “Do like what I believe Rwanda does. They shut the country down once a month on a Saturday until 12 ‘O’ Clock, businesses cannot open…and they clean the country.”
Rwanda has become one of the cleanest countries in the world due to new laws requiring every citizen to pick up litter.
President Paul Kagame decreed one morning each month in the capital city of Kigali and around the countryside, to be a public clean-up day. The last Saturday of every month, dignitaries, even the president and his cabinet, participate in the litter collection.
Additionally, plastic polythene bags are banned in Rwanda, which cuts down the trash. And, in Kigali, littering anywhere is a crime.
Build a fence!
Flax-Brutus also suggested that if the government has a challenge removing the derelict vehicles and boats, a fence should be built to keep the eyesores out.
She recalled the US Virgin Islands (USVI) preparing for a conference a few years ago. “When we drove from the ferry dock to Frenchman’s Reef, there was not a scrap of anything anywhere. Everything was very pristine, and I think that is one of the things the BVI needs to do that would make an immediate impact."
‘Fix your tourism corridor’
Flax-Brutus continued that the Virgin Islands needs to “fix the corridor” for all the islands that attract tourists, “so that the most travelled for tourism gives the guest the illusion, for lack of a better word, that this is the vacation experience that I want.”
She said the most hurtful thing to see is a gentleman, who visits Virgin Gorda every year, with a garbage bag “cleaning up our own mess.”
Meanwhile, co-host Damion C. Grange said he sees people throwing garbage “willy-nilly” all the time.
“People stop at the bin and throw from the window, miss the bin, and they just drive off.”
Grange also suggested "masking" the garbage dumpsters.
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13 Responses to “‘Shut the country down’ once a month to clean up- Sharon P. Flax-Brutus”
Its what's inside that's making it so stinky.
do not understand the culture so there we have it. I see them all the time, with their nasty ways. I pick things
that I didn't throw down and they look at me with disbelief. Good luck Ms. Flax.
First this will have to be on a voluntary basis with widespread community based and service clubs involvement. Our leaders, neither Governor nor Premier has the constitutional powers to issue decrees, plus there are constitutional limits on "forced labour".
Secondly, choosing a Saturday exempts a significant segment of the population from participation, i.e. the Seventh Day Adventists.
Closer to home places like Bermuda and Aruba are relatively clean. What is it that they are doing differently to us here in the BVI?
Moreover, the country should be able to be governed effectively while simultaneously keeping it clean. Nevertheless, it will require a behavioral change. It will require an all hands on deck effort to pitch in to keep the territory clean.. 60,000+ hands working in concert can make it happened. It will require leadership from villages,,townships, islands, districts, HoA, Admin Building, Mount Olympus, etc.
Educated people can’t work unless something in it for them.
sense!!!!!