By Simon

From downtown Nassau to Over-the-Hill to the southern areas of our major island to Fox Hill and throughout, much of New Providence is filthy, derelict, nasty, dirty, and dilapidated.

A friend recalls going to a small grocery store chain on Nassau Street earlier this week. He was disturbed by the amount of garbage swirling around outside the store.

Much of the garbage had obviously been there for many days, the owners and customers oblivious to the blight. It would have taken very little for the owners to keep the property clean. It was clearly not a priority.

From homeowners to business owners to many public servants and politicians, the dirt on our streets is simply part of the landscape. Much of the garbage no longer disturbs us. It has become normal. It is a part of our culture. This is who many of us are.

We brag about tourism numbers even as most of downtown is an eyesore, despite some progress over the years to revitalize and beautify the city centre.

The recent major fire exposed the squalor of parts of East Bay Street and the collapse of public services including woefully insufficient fire trucks.

In listening to the amusingly conflicting stories told about the state of the Fire service by the Minister of National Security, a Royal Bahamas Police Force official, and the Office of the Prime Minister, even a casual observer could discern, to put it politely and euphemistically, the “discrepancies” in the rolling accounts that do not add up.

This seemingly casual indifference about the state of such a vital life and death service is a clue writ large about the mindset that is part cause and painful symptom of the physical and social collapse of an island of over 300.000 with a few enclaves of working infrastructure and safety in a sea of urban crime, feral behaviour, decay and decrepitude.

We have a massive cultural problem. It includes indifference about the depth of the decay by political leaders of all stripes and scores of residents of New Providence.

Many of us are indifferent and anaesthetised to garbage on the streets, broken traffic barriers, rundown public buildings and parks, unkempt private businesses, and general muck.

We delight in driving around in high end or nice cars while ignoring the grime and grease soiling public spaces. How feral, uncivilized and shameless are many, though not the majority, who happily and routinely throw fast food debris out of their cars?

Many of us are so unsocialised that we cannot even pass on basic habits of civility and cleanliness to children. We ignore the effects of such nastiness and filth on our public health, environmental well-being, consciousness, and human spirit.

A well-known pediatrician, now retired, often noted the number of children from homes that are not well-kept inside and outside. He insisted that having a clean, organized school to attend made a difference in their moods, formation of good habits and health.

The principal of a private school notes the tremendous difference in learning outcomes and discipline when the school was moved from a certain area to a quieter part of New Providence. The combination of the new facilities and more serene and pristine environs was a gamechanger.

If cleanliness is anywhere next to godliness, we are truly a nation of many heathens, who will dress up in embroidered finery to go to church and then throw fast food containers, soda cans, and liquor bottles out of our car windows.

Just as a toddler needs to learn how to go to the bathroom, how to bathe, and how to brush their teeth, they must be continually taught the habits of cleanliness, civility and citizenship. What does a parent or a fellow citizen teach a child when they park in a space reserved for the disabled?

Some months ago, a certain politician was seen moving a cone restricting access to a spot reserved for the disabled. When the security guard protested, she insisted that she park in the space because she was late for a beauty care appointment. She was eventually persuaded to park elsewhere.

Though many more Bahamians refrain from parking in parking spaces reserved for the disabled, quite a number continue to do so.

Recently, at a well-known grocery chain, a disinterested security guard allowed an individual in a luxury sports car to park in a position that straddled both disabled spaces.

What manner of extreme selfishness, unethical behaviour, and sloth must someone have to deprive two people of a reserved spot so they would not have to walk their lazy “rump”, another euphemism, a extra few steps?

The security guard said he did not want to confront the individual even though this was his job. Fortunately, the store manager reminded him of his responsibility.

What do parking in a space for the disabled and cleanliness have in common? They are on a continuum of civility, decency, and good public habits.

Correspondingly, the reason we get away with such incivility and uncleanliness is because they are so entrenched and normative in our culture. Moreover, there are few penalties and often little oversight. If more cars were towed and more fines levied, we might better observe certain rules.

Let’s be honest: There are certain politicians who encourage slackness and refrain from insisting on the enforcement of various environmental laws because it serves their political purposes.

However, in addition to penalties, we need to be inculcated in good habits. Government alone cannot keep the country clean and green. To keep out streets and environs clean requires citizen action on a regular and more widespread basis. There are things we can learn from Rwanda.

President Paul Kagame did much for Rwanda after the genocide that ripped his country apart. Still, he has become an autocrat with a troubling human rights record. He has also been criticized for his military intervention in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

There is a significant intervention program that Kagame promoted in Rwanda that has gained international recognition. A story in the Straits Times reports:

“In 2018, the head of the United Nations Environment Programme, Mr Eric Solheim, called the Rwandan capital, Kigali, the ‘cleanest city on the planet’ for the lack of rubbish on its streets and its green initiatives.

“And in 2022, travel blogger Drew Binsky – who has been to all 197 countries in the world – ranked Rwanda as the cleanest country in the world, ahead of Singapore.

“The Rwandan government takes the country’s upkeep a step further by involving its citizens in a community workday known as Umuganda.” Umuganda is a mandatory nationwide community service day held on the last Saturday of the month.

Participants are abled-bodied 18- to 65-year-olds. They are required to help in community and neighbourhood projects, including cleanups, repairing public buildings, painting, trimming bushes, removing garbage, and related activities from 8am to 11am.

No Bahamian government can impose such a mandatory programme. But what about a volunteer program that may include: community organisations, students who are required to complete community service requirements in the government-operated and private schools, corporate entities, and youth organisations?

Moreover, what about utilising thousands of church volunteers on a regular basis? We must find ways to promote consistent civic engagement and volunteerism in response to crime and social decay, environmental and cleanliness problems, and disaster relief.

Government alone is not sufficient in inculcating civilising and public virtues and helping to address the social problems and rot plaguing our neighbourhoods. The hard work of cultural reform and moral education is the responsibility of us all.