An Unsightly Entrance to the City

An Unsightly Entrance to the City

Garbage at Beetham

(The picture was taken from a distance because it’s not safe to stop along the Beetham Highway)

As you enter the capital city of Port of Spain, there is an unwelcoming sight of graffiti etched on concrete walls, scattered rubbish and overfilled dumpsters lining the Beetham Highway. This slum community is located on the outskirts of the city. In the 1970’s the government provided well built homes (Newsday 2013) for this community but today these homes are old, dilapidated, and reconstructed with galvanized and wooden walls.  There is indiscriminant disposal of garbage like domestic waste, old appliances, furniture, scrap iron and other materials outside the wall, along the community. 

This form of environmental pollution contaminates and degrades the natural, scenic beauty of our landscape. The unpleasant appearance of solid waste and the bad odors associated with garbage is clearly visible to any visitor traveling onto the city in any direction. There is an increasing volume of solid waste generated by residents from the Beetham and Sea Lots Communities that is “stinking-up” the environment. This daily practice should be of public concern since the health and safety of citizens are at risk. Let me remind you that the dumping of rubbish can encourage the breeding of germs and disease causing agents also threaten our health and pollute our environment. Come on citizens let’s change our behavior! We are all responsible to keep surroundings attractive, clean and sustainable. When I go into the city seeing piles of rubbish and overfill SWMCOL bins is disheartening. We need to educate communities and make them aware of the harmful effects of land pollution.

To better understand the reason for seeing household waste scattered openly, unkempt backyards and dirty walls, I took time to really analysis the people who reside at the Beetham Gardens Community. The issues face by Beetham Gardens Community is one of marginalization and spatial segregation. The residents express their feelings of neglect and being marginalized as they are usually restricted from decision making process, and polices as a result of their social status in society. They are classed as part of the lower income or unemployed groups who reside in deplorable housing conditions, facing discrimination and social exclusion. The resident often block the highways with waste material and engage in fiery protest all in the effects of expressing their frustration and plight of unequal treatment by society.  According to a newspaper article, “their cries tell of being neglected by the government,” (Express 2012) and the lack of employment opportunities faced by Beetham residents.

 

Spatial segregation is illustrated by the wall constructed along the community. The wall was built when the country hosted the Summit of Americans Meeting. The intention was to block-off the view of international visitors from seeing this slum area that is in close proximity to the city. I wonder if the government felt that these dwellers will tarnish the “metropolis concept” of a city.  Most residents reported “The Government don’t want these foreign dignitaries to see the poor conditions in which we live... so they blocking us out,” (Guardian 2008). The people of Beetham community believed that the wall signifies a form of spatial segregation and isolated from the public. Feitosa et al 2006 stated that “Segregation causes negative impacts on the cities and lives of their inhabitants. It imposes severe restrictions to certain population groups, such as the denial of basic infrastructure and public services, fewer job opportunities, intense prejudice and discrimination, and higher exposure to violence”. Therefore, the residents of Beetham really experiences segregation.

Although the resident would have some form of knowledge in keeping their environment clean because of the feeling of isolation, having their community be blocked off by a wall for “beautification” they probably express their frustration and neglect by polluting the environment. They probably don’t have the enthusiasm of caring for the environment due the lack of motivation and low self-esteem, residents do feel like taking extra effects to improve and have a positive impact towards the environment.

For more information further reading can be done:

• In a newspaper article published by the Trinidad Express residents displayed their frustration through fiery protest. 

•  http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Beetham_residents_warn_of_more_road_protests-182475051.html

• · http://www.planning.gov.tt/sites/default/files/content/mediacentre/speeches/Beetham%20Gardens%20Community%20Impact%20Centre%20Launch%20October%2025_0.pdf

•  http://www.trinidadexpress.com/woman-magazine/RAFYS-LENS-CAPTURES-THE-BEAUTY-OF-THE-BEETHAM-239943541.html

References

Feitosa, Flavis F., Gilberto Camara, Antonia M.V. Monterio, Thomas Koschitzki, and Marcelino P.S. Silva. “Global and Local Indices of Urban Segregation”. Accessed April 10, 2014. http://mtc-m18.sid.inpe.br/col/sid.inpe.br/ePrint@80/2006/07.31.21.15/doc/v1.pdf

Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. 2013. “Gated Community for Beetham Gardens”. Accessed April 9, 2014. http://www.newsday.co.tt/letters/0,186627.html

Trinidad and Tobago Express. 2012. “Beetham residences block highway in fiery protest”. Accessed April 9, 2014. http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Beetham_residents_block_highway_in_fiery_protest-153888065.html

Trinidad and Tobago Guardian. 2008. “The wall will fall”. Accessed April 9, 2014.  http://legacy.guardian.co.tt/archives/2008-10-19/news3.html