Mad as Hell

-->

Admiring the view from one of Anguilla’s most scenic drives. The dirt road from Anguilla Trading at South Hill Village to Long Bay Village passes through the old Hughes’ Estate. If you stop at the old sugar works, you can examine the remains of the smokehouse not twenty feet from the side of the road.

The old smokehouse designed for smoking fish and meat in the days before refrigeration

It is a delightful drive, so long as you take it slowly. The road surface is better than my driveway, so I really mean it is a delightful drive.

The old main road to Long Bay Village passing through the Hughes' Estate

From time to time, you get a view of Sandy Island and the Prickly Pears.

Pleasure sailing yacht coming in to Sandy Island

Every now and then you get a glimpse through the scrub of the boats in Road Bay, Sandy Ground.

View of the boats anchored in Road Bay, Sandy Ground

In the distance, you might spot a tug pulling a barge into port.

Delightful view of a barge being towed into port

Eventually, as you drive further west, you are able to look back East and see Sandy Ground itself in all its morning glory.

Romantic view of Road Bay, Sandy Ground

In the early morning, you get a good view of the boats anchored in the Bay.

Boats anchored in Sandy Ground Bay

There is really nothing to beat nature at its best. The view for anyone living on this road just serves to enhance the quality of their life.

Enhancing the quality of life along the old main road to Long Bay Village

Not to mention adding to the value of the properties alongside.

A final, admiring view of the roadside at the Hughes' Estate

Truly, a scene worth coming back for.

The public health authorities are to be congratulated by all of us on a job well done.

Landscapes

Teacher Helens’ Landscape Features. Anguillians of a certain age remember Teacher Helen. She used to teach geography at the High School. She was strong on landscape features. Recently, she was back on a visit. She remarked on Anguilla’s newest landscape features. I went out on Tuesday and took some photographs so you could see what she was talking about.

The above monument is what she was referring to. It shows one of the many new landscape features scattered along the roadsides around the island.

They are a major improvement on the old oil drums that used to be found outside every house. They can hold so much more garbage. But, if only they were collected more often. Or, if they were bigger, the better to hold the overflowing garbage. Do we have to drive along our highways and byways every week looking at these mounds of garbage around every corner?

Corito is the location of Anguilla’s landfill. It is the public dump. But, does unwanted garbage have to be dumped on the Corito road side? Why should Charlie Gumbs’ guests have to look at the above view every time they turn the corner to go down Charlie’s drive?

You drive along the road, and there are piles of rubbish just dumped on the side. You must have heard the tale. There was a land-fill expert visiting Anguilla. He asked a waitress in a restaurant, “What do you do with your garbage in Anguilla?” The reply was, “We do not have a problem with garbage. Visitors put it in rubbish bins; but, we Anguilllians just throw it out of our car window.” The photo above is the evidence.

Go down the Rendezvous Pond road. It is exactly opposite the Jeremiah Gumbs Highway in Blowing Point. At the end of the road, you will see where some of the good residents of Blowing Point throw their garbage. The Rendezvous Bay Pond is in the background of the photo above, with a pile of modern incidentals visible in the foreground. No doubt, some inhabitant of Blowing Point considered this would improve the view, or he would not have placed the pile there.

You do not have to go as far as the pond. The above photo was taken at the start of the road. It shows that it is OK to throw your garbage right in the middle of the village. Just in front of your neighbour’s house, if you want.

On the road to Cap Juluca Hotel, just as you leave the main road, there is a collection of garbage on the west of the road. It has been there for months. I have been checking each week to see if anyone will remove it. No, it just grows bigger and bigger.

Further down the Cap Juluca road, is the sight above. There is an even larger mound of garbage just off the eastern side of the road. It covers an area of about a quarter of an acre. It takes quite a lot of work to build up such a collection of garbage. It requires even more concentrated effort on the part of the relevant authorities to let this mountain of garbage grow from week to week, with no sign of a dent being made in it.

This is a different view of the same spot. It shows one of our premier locally-owned tourism destinations in the background. The owners have invested millions on this development. We have to hope that their guests do not come out of their rented accommodation and walk up the road. The above is the view they will be greeted with.

This is perhaps my favourite landscape feature. On the picturesque back road from South Hill to Long Bay, there is a magnificent view eastwards to Sandy Ground and Crocus Bay. As you can see, the scenery is livened up by bags of contemporary stuff artfully placed alongside the road by some of the more thoughtful residents of Long Bay. You are encouraged to stop for a moment and take a photo, as I did.

Send me your favourite photos of Anguilla's landscape features. Perhaps, we can do a follow up post?

Litter Problem

Litter Wardens. Not everyone gives much priority to the environment. James Watt, President Reagan’s first Secretary of the Interior, is supposed to have told the US Congress that protecting the natural resources was unimportant in light of the imminent return of Jesus Christ. In public testimony he allegedly said, “After the last tree is felled, Christ will come back.” For what he actually said, if you are interested, see this copy of the Alternative Energy Bulletin. Or, see his entry under Positive Atheism’s Big List of Scary Quotes. It is hard to fight against that type of ignorance coming from a presumably educated man.

I can remember the day when littering was first made an offence in Anguilla. The House of Assembly passed the Litter Abatement Act. That was years ago. Not a single person has ever been prosecuted for an offence under it. To be effective the Act needs Litter Wardens. People were asked to volunteer, and many did. These appointments were essential for enforcing the Act. A Litter Warden could impose a ticket of a $50.00 fine for littering. But, not one Litter Warden has been appointed. I enquired why. My informant tells me the Ministers had a change of heart. They did not want to make criminals of people who only throw bottles and tins out of their car windows. The consequence is that littering is as much of a problem around the island now as it ever was before the Act was introduced. What a joke this law is! What a calamity our Ministers of Government are creating!

How can we as a tourist destination claim to be catering for the upscale market when we cannot keep our island clean? When the tourists start posting pictures of our litter-strewn roadsides on the internet, how will we respond?