After the floods, will attitudeschange?

THE EDITOR: It was with great heart-wrenching pain that I read of the recent flooding disaster in TT.

I grieve and pray for my fellow Trinidadians who were victims of this natural phenomenon. (Or is it so natural?). When I saw people on rooftops I was deeply moved and thought of all the losses of personal belongings gathered over a lifetime through hard work.

During my school and working years I stood by and watched slash-and-burn, quarrying, removal of trees from the beautiful forests that we once had, and the senseless dumping in the rivers and streams that we were once so proud of.

I wondered then who would suffer for this and when and it bothered me then as it does now. I tell myself this is part of a legacy that we left our children. Perhaps there is a big lesson in all this.

Do people know that the St Joseph River used to accommodate ships during the Spanish reign? This same river used to take all the excess water and drain it into the Caroni on the way to the sea. I cannot go into details here but please check it out.

As young adults we used to dive from the bridge at Marsden pool. This is now filled with boulders. How did this happen?

Although I feel sad for the great numbers of people who suffered in the devastation, I still wonder if this could have been avoided had we followed a few simple rules. I wonder if the disaster would cause attitudes to change for the sake of the younger ones?

Citizens, please take note.

ROWELL J MAHARAJ via e-mail