Barbados
90 retired Environmental Health Officers will now be able to keep in close professional contact with each other. This is the main goal of the recently formed Barbados Association of Retired Environmental Health Officers.
Still a practicing EHO, Andrew Jordan is the secretary of the association. Speaking to the Barbados Nation News after a church service held in St. Michael to mark the launch of the association, Jordan noted that although out of active duty, the retired EHO’s still care for the environment sufficiently to want to contribute some more to its preservation.
Francis Ambrose, a 33 year veteran, is one of the retired EHO’s who is on board with the new association. He told the Nation that the state of garbage disposal has grown callous on Barbados and fears that this could lead to an outbreak of harmful diseases.
He said this: “We had Malaria in Barbados already and if we are not careful, it can come back. Yellow fever as well as the other illnesses caused by mosquitoes are harmful, but can be avoided if we keep the island clean.”
Jordan has his own views on this conundrum. He laments that the public does not show ample respect for Environmental Health Officers. Then he waxed nostalgic about the days when “years ago, home owners would make a special effort to keep their surroundings clean when an officer was inspecting.”
I remember those days well. Alas, they are no more. This generation of homeowners, empowered by virtual wealth and a misunderstanding of modernity, are disdainful toward Environmental Health practitioners to our collective distress.
Maybe the Barbados Association of Retired Environmental Health Officers will find a way to help turn back the clock and re-instill the values that used to make our Caribbean people passionate about their individual responsibilities toward the environment.
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