Beauty visitors see and ugly they miss

THE EDITOR: My overseas cousin came to Trinidad for holidays and had wonderful daily Facebook posts of her visit.

She saw verdant green hills with beautiful clear skies. I saw the squatters and indiscriminate mining just off to the side.

She posted of clear, aquamarine water lapping on a gently sloping beach. I saw the garbage and discarded plastic piles just slightly out of focus.

She posted of a beautiful, romantic hike with her husband through a deserted forest. I saw the dangers of that solo excursion but nevertheless felt lucky to see this journey through her eyes.

This is the dichotomy of our country. TT cannot only exist in the carefully curated online postings of our overseas guests.

The reality here is far less beautiful and is growing worse with each passing day. Crime does not allow us to enjoy outdoor activities unless in a group.

Our beaches and many nature trails are littered with rubbish, and are not necessarily safe.

It often takes the naivety of tourists or the wanderlust of adventure seekers to show us our beautiful lands, but we who eke out a living here are the ones who need to demand better governance so we too can enjoy our public spaces with similar carefree abandon and not have to quell our very real fears every time we leave the safety of our homes.

Happy New Year. Let's hope for better this year.

C ALEXANDER

Port of Spain