THA environment secretary leads beach clean-up

Secretary of Food Security, Natural Resources, the Environment and Sustainable Development, Nathisha Charles-Pantin, spearheaded a beach clean-up initiative in her electoral district of Bagatelle/Bacolet on Sunday.

Over 70 volunteers braved the early morning showers to clean the Bacolet and Blue Haven beaches in Scarborough. They assembled from 6am, with brush-cutters, rakes, shovels, blowers and garbage bags.

The two beaches are not among the most popular on the island,but the closure of beaches during the pandemic resulted in a pileup of garbage and overgrown bushes.

Over 100 garbage bags of rubbish were collected at the two locations. Plastic items such as bags, bottles, cups and plates along with food wrappers, were among the highest proportion of waste collected.

During the clean-up exercise, the Sunday morning beach football "sweaters" arrived at Bacolet beach and also assisted.

A spokesperson for the footballers said, "We have no problem lending support, it is a good thing they doing, the place was really bad, it start to look nice. Ah think they should put in some garbage bins though."

Garbage trucks came at both locations, to collect the waste materials.

The list of volunteers primarily consisted of residents in the electoral district and community-based organisations, such as the Mason Hall and Scarborough Police Youth Clubs.

Technical support was provided by the Tobago House of Assembly, department of Natural Resources and Forestry, Wetlands Field Unit and the Tobago Recycling Unit. Volunteers were also treated to light refreshments.

Charles-Pantin, who was present during the clean-up, said, “This initiative aims to heighten awareness to conserve and cease degradation on our beaches.

“Therefore, the beach clean-up is a step into the development and maintenance of our environment, it is community-based and voluntary work. Given the financial situation, we are focusing on low-hanging fruits. It’s our community and our home, we must unite and volunteer. The process will create a sense of pride within the community.

“Our electoral district must be the best, in terms of beautification and keeping a clean and green atmosphere."

It was a busy Sunday for Charles-Pantin. The area representative also launched a community bin construction initiative, at Cradley Trace in Mason Hall.

“This project will help to improve the aesthetics of the roadside by having a general area to put residential waste."

Charles-Pantin said a property owner who was previously plagued by illegal dumping gave permission for the construction of the community bin.

Residents can also look forward to another environmental project in the near future. According to Charles-Pantin, a green space project to plant trees and grass is among her plans for the area.