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A tale of two cities
Posted: Sunday, May 26, 2002
By Donna Yawching
IT WAS a small item buried deep in last Tuesday’s Express: “Bridgetown to get Bds$5m facelift”. The story went on to say that the Barbadian government was planning a makeover for the island’s capital city, starting early next year.
Improvements would include the addition of “new restaurants, entertainment centres, shops, boardwalks and offices around the capital” as well as “a new market complex, dredging the entrance to the Tudor Bridge to allow passage of larger luxury boats and repairing two swing bridges that separate the city”. Said a government official, “Barbados is going to look entirely different from what is there now, when the work is completed.”
As I read this story, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons. It’s been several years since I was last in Barbados, but I remember Bridgetown as being quite an attractive little city. Certainly far cleaner and more appealing than Port of Spain—with, incidentally, at least one downtown street closed to traffic and open to vendors, as I have been advocating for Charlotte Street. It was already, it seemed to me, a tourist-friendly kind of place; and I cannot recall seeing a single vagrant—everyone was busy doing or selling something or other.
Things may have changed since then; but I suspect not drastically. Yet the Bajan government sees the need for improvement, and is unhesitatingly prepared to spend money to achieve it. Let’s compare that to Port of Spain. When was the last time the government made any noticeable improvements to our capital city? Probably the Brian Lara Promenade was the last project that could so qualify. Oh sure, they’ve painted the odd railing or statue, but essentially, our capital remains an unsightly mess. Far from attracting tourists, we are apparently eager to repel them.
More significantly, when was the last time that any government actually had a plan for improving the city? By this, I don’t mean sending out the Works Department with a couple gallons of paint, or the Parks people with a few flowers. I mean an actual plan, an overall vision, for making Port of Spain an attractive, vibrant city centre that people would gravitate to by choice, rather than by necessity. A plan that would include traffic flow, parking, public transport, street cleaning, renovation of buildings, preservation of historic structures, appropriate landscaping, security, entertainment options, rehabilitation of green spaces, sanitary toilet facilities, clear drains—the list goes on and on.
Note that when I say “plan”, I’m not talking about massive development projects designed to funnel billions of taxpayers’ dollars into the pockets of government cronies, as was the case with the last “plan” that was mooted for Port of Spain—the one that entailed extensive land reclamation at the expense of the environment, not to mention the wholesale displacement of Sea Lots residents, and God knows what else.
Most of that project was just a big government giveaway, from the UNC with love. Many very rich people were set to get even richer; but in effect, the area that currently constitutes downtown Port of Spain would not have benefited at all—indeed, it would have suffered, as all the upscale business operations (such as they are) would have gravitated toward the new and expensive developments, leaving the heart of the city a tacky agglomeration of discount stores and dirt. That is not a vision, it is a rip-off.
It is noteworthy that the Barbadian government is not talking about mega-projects in its plan to rejuvenate Bridgetown. It is talking about the simple things (paint, renovations, boardwalks) and about the development of new services and leisure activities. The latter would probably entail private enterprise—restaurateurs, shop owners, etc—who would presumably be eager to invest in a sprucer, more attractive capital city. The only large-scale project would seem to be the dredging of the harbour, to facilitate larger luxury boats—and of course, more luxury boats would be likely to want to dock, in a prettier Bridgetown.
In short, the Bajan plan exhibits foresight—that quality so sadly lacking in virtually every aspect of T&T’s governance. Recognising that its well-being depends on tourism, and that tourists are not attracted to filth, human misery and crime, Barbados is moving decisively to upgrade its image and maintain its market share in an ever more competitive environment.
This same foresight is what, more than 25 years ago, led that island to invest heavily in health-care and education, with the result that it ranks consistently high on the UN’s Human Development Index, while T&T ranks consistently low. Currently, the Bajan government is ploughing millions of dollars into the computerisation of its school system—while our officials pat themselves heartily on the back each time they present one school with a couple of outdated machines. In ten years’ time, as the tourism industry inevitably dwindles, Bajans will be ready to cope in the information society—and we will still be wondering where we went wrong.
But I digress. The other thing worth noting about the Bajan government’s facelift plan is the cost: Bds$5m—or Bds$10m according to a subsequent figure quoted: the story did not explain the discrepancy. Be it five or ten million, the figure is nevertheless surprisingly modest, in Trini terms. Here, local contractors would quote that much for a single bridge, or 20 feet of boardwalk! But of course, in this island, a door can cost $9,000 on a government contract, and every nail is probably worth a blue note. If you think I’m exaggerating, cast your mind back to our desalination plant, which was apparently quoted at ten times the one built in Barbados a year or two earlier. Does any of this tell you something?
It tells me very clearly, what is missing in this country. Vision, for one thing. Honesty and integrity, for another. And the slightest bit of interest in the welfare of the people, for a third. It’s too bad that governments don’t franchise themselves out. We could desperately use some of that Bajan savvy right here
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