Rubbish on the beaches

Simon & Nicky

Bronze
Feb 3, 2004
655
14
0
www.simon-hall.co.uk
To save any of you good people the time and trouble, we just took a couple of friends to see the Manatees at Laguna Estero Honda. The park was closed although in fairness it was 4.00 in the afternoon by the time we rocked up. - Sign said it shut at 5.00 of course.

Anyhow, the reason for our late arrival was a detour to Punta Rucia which was quite pleasing and a short stop at another beach in the next bay (the name slips my mind) about a mile to the east. The beach looked fantastic, bright blue water and an easy stroll into a calm shallow sea across fine white sand. There were several locals bouncing about in the water, some rather noisy bars serving drinks but it looked fine - until we got out of the car!

In our haste to jump into the sea after a three hour drive, the guys left the girls to sort out the picnic blanket, beers and so forth while we grabbed the snorkeling gear and waded out. The trouble started once we had our masks on and started to dive. Never in my whole life have I seen such total and utter destruction of something which must once have been so beautiful. A few feet down the water was crawling with used sanitary products, sh*t (for want of a better word) and most strange of all, and I kid you not - tens of thousands of plastic cups! It was as if this was the place where plastic cups go to die. We didn't see anything that belonged there that was actually alive.

We got out almost as fast as we got in only to find the girls sitting in excrement and filth including used needles, dead fish, dead rats and more empty plastic cups. - We left.

The whole beach is one gigantic sh*thole, and the sad thing is that the beach is (by all accounts) only used by local Dominicans. It was as if the party finished ten years ago but still they were trying to suck it dry. I nearly cried. What can be done to make people realise that you only get one chance with nature and to stop this happening anywhere else? The beach by the way was full of rubbish bins - oddly they were all empty.

If you're planning a trip out there I suggest you don't bother unless you are a plastic cup salesman and require some new stock. I very much doubt if the Manatee's find it to their liking either.

Simon
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
341
83
dr1.com
Sad but oh so true. Many Dominicans couldn't give a rats *** as long as it's not in their back yard. I have watched people throw bags full of trash out of the car window.

I know plenty of Dominicans that are very pro-environment and the trash problem makes them sick. They do their bit, but it's hard when the majority of your people are grossly irresponsible when it comes to trash disposal.

It comes down to education...
 

Oche

Member
Jan 6, 2004
336
4
18
47
This attitude towards the enviroment is what keep us dominicans from growing as a nation...it's a real shame.
 

Bok

New member
Mar 13, 2004
179
0
0
In Manzanillo back in the late 90's (in the heydays before rockash) when I still were dealing with DD's melons I had the pleasure of sharing an icecold Mountain Dew with DD's electrician on the pier.
We miscommunicated about beer, women, work among other things but when he finished his can of refreshing citrus beverage he just threw it on the ground. I said 'hey' in a disapproving way and pointed at the empty 55 gal oildrum which had been painted yellow and had the word 'zafacon' on it, just 10 feet away from where we were. He then pointed at an old man further down the pier who was doing his best to sweep. That was a pretty tall order as the broom only had 3 hairs on it. Anyway, the electrician explained to me that if he used the trash can there would be no work for the sweeping oldtimer. He would get fired and an entire family would be without income. My Spanish language skills failed me when I tried to explain how the 'timer' would move up the ladder from sweeper to garbageman and the country would be nicer to look at.

A change of mindset is what is needed and that's a very slow process. If kids at school today were taught (or beaten up) to be more friendly to the environment and they took it upon themselves to correct their families it would still be years before an effect kicked in.

Even if the authorities hired more garbagemen during 'the transition period' (oops, where would their pay come from?) people would just take advantage of that situation and refer to the garbagemen needing the trash to have a reason for collecting a paycheck and we'll be back at square one.

I don't expect to see any progress over the next many years :(

Bok