JAMAICA'S FAMED Holland Bamboo in St. Elizabeth has fallen victim to human predators and the ravages of nature, as reported on Page A2 of today's edition.
There is little that local authorities can do to ward off the unpredictability of nature. Recent drought conditions and related bush fires as well as the current problems of the Fire Services have undoubtedly exacerbated the situation. But the appropriate response and corrective action is still within human power to manage. Unfortunately, as is often the case in so many areas of national life, the response has been lethargic at best.
The short-sightedness of fishermen who raid the plants in search of material to make fishpots and the viciousness of arsonists pose a bigger, but not insurmountable challenge.
Bamboo Avenue is one of those features of the Jamaican landscape that is often used to depict the beauty and variety of local vegetation in tourist brochures. Its attractiveness and the respite it offers for persons traversing the hot, dry plains of the island's south coast, are compelling enough reasons for greater effort to be made to protect what is essentially a part of the country's natural heritage.
Unfortunately, despite its popularity, few businesses that would appeal to travellers have been established within close proximity to the avenue. So it remains primarily a thoroughfare simply to be traversed and admired. Perhaps the apparent official neglect and lack of appreciation by people would be reversed if some immediate legitimate economic benefit could be made to accrue to the people of St. Elizabeth as the bamboo arches are allowed to remain in place. But residents of St. Elizabeth must themselves assume a leadership role in lobbying for greater protection of the Bamboo Avenue.
There is a role, too, for the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) in terms of making environmental wardens available for patrols and to engage the support of the public through public education programmes for them to stop using the avenue as a garbage dump. This is an area where recycled/waste water might be put to good use, but requires harnessing the resources for implementation.
We suggest that the ministries of Tourism, Agriculture, Land and Environment all have an interest in seeing to the preservation of Holland Bamboo. It is time their respective heads and/or representatives move to halt and reverse the destruction of one of the country's prime natural assets.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
