EDITORIAL: Stop the burning
Is it time to put legislation on the statute books to prohibit Barbadians from engaging in the very bad habit of burning rubbish around their homes? That is certainly a question that has to be asked, especially given that in recent years we have been seeing more persons engaging in this practice, the fire getting out of hand, and causing discomfort or harm to others close by.
No one can deny that there is a need to put an end to indiscriminate burning, which has on several occasions required the services of the Barbados Fire Service to put it out. Already for the year we have had more grass and rubbish fires than were reported for the same period last year, which would make one wonder if the message to stop burning trash will ever get home to Barbadians. While we note the impact these fires have been having on the resources of the Barbados Fire Service, we suppose it is somewhat heartening that they have not disrupted schools or communities in the same way they have in recent years causing students and residents to seek medical treatment for smoke inhalation, sinusitis or asthma.
Very often those who light these fires are not the ones impacted by them, as the smoke blows away from their location and so they fail to recognise the negative impacts that the smoke can have on individuals. The fact is that smoke can be very distressing and these culprits need to realise that that they are putting the lives of others and even themselves in danger.
Now fire has been used for centuries to dispose of waste, but advances in technology have helped us to devise alternative means of disposing of most materials and we need to let common sense prevail and utilise those options, including composting. The fact is, when a fire gets out of hand, in addition to causing health problems in asthmatics, they can affect persons with heart conditions, as well as the elderly and young children. The burning of trash can also negatively impact air quality, and given that fire is not static, it can spread to nearby trees and structures and result in untold damage. And do not let us forget that burning rubbish could in general be a nuisance to neighbours, preventing them from carrying household chores like washing.
Just a few years ago, it was said that asthma accounted for 12 to 14 deaths per year in this country and there were as many as 10,000 children visiting the Asthma Bay of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) every year. While we have some statistics for the QEH, there is really no way to know definitely the number of persons that visit the polyclinics and the private clinics for treatment, so the numbers are most likely much higher than that. Given then the strain already placed on our health care system, there can be no denying that when people who engage in bad practices like burning garbage do so, they are adding to that burden.
So we return to the earlier question as to whether stricter laws need to be put in place to address the burning of waste, and we strongly believe the answer is yes. This is necessary not only to protect the health of our people, but to ensure that the resources of the Fire Service are not wasted attending to fires that could have been avoided.