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The lyrics of Joni Mitchell’s song from the 1970’s, serve as a fitting lament to the derogation of Dominica\u2019s natural environment for what is perceived as \u201cdevelopment\u201d.<\/p>\n
With a pink hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot spot,<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone,\u00a0<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n They’ve paved paradise and put in a parking lot.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n My latest concern relates to the construction of a four-mile cable car route through the Morne Trois Pitons World Heritage Site.<\/p>\n The derogation of the world\u2019s natural environment is nothing new. A century ago, the pioneering environmentalist, Sir George Stapledon wrote:<\/p>\n \u2026the first thing to be decided is the priority of the innumerable claims that the modern state makes on its land surface. When a country is vast and the population is small, the question of priority of claims hardly arises: but in small islands the matter is of extreme urgency. If we take a long view of the case there is not an inch of land to spare, and it is an outrage to posterity to misuse a single yard of it.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n Nearer to home, and closer to our time, Virgin Island poet Sheila\u00a0Hyndman\u00a0(1958-1991) while still a school girl, prophesized the future of her beloved homeland.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They will come with tools and machines.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They will bring to light your secret places,<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They will demand your mysteries.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They will destroy, build up.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They will dilute your treasures,<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And rob you of your chastity.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They will adorn you like ancient Jezebel.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n My disillusionment of what is regarded as progress became acute when in I travelled the region in search of material for my book \u201cCaribbean Sketches\u201d. As with my earlier book, \u201cVirgin Island Sketches\u201d, I was working against the clock in attempting to capture each island before it degenerated into being the same as everywhere else. Cruise ship passengers step ashore to the same spurious scene at every port of call. We tend to forget that the individuality of places reflects the individuality of ourselves.<\/p>\n Our fundamental challenge is to re-evaluate the past in order to determine if what was originally considered “development” has in fact been in the best long-term interest of Dominicans. In connection with the airport, the Prime Minister has urged all citizens to, \u201creject the efforts of the enemies of progress\u201d. But not all progress is necessarily beneficial to Dominica in the long term. And that is what those he labelled as \u201cenemies\u201d are concerned about.<\/p>\n Likewise, the Prime Minister has warned critics of the government\u2019s national housing program that adverse criticism is not welcome because his work is guided by God\u2026 \u201cI am basically an instrument\u2026you will not be criticizing the Government; you will be criticizing God\u201d. On the other hand, at last week\u2019s press conference he stated that the lack of progress on the National Library was \u201cbecause nobody wants to discuss that kind of debate\u201d.<\/p>\n I can understand the frustration that the necessary checks and balances can cause. As Winston Churchill claimed:<\/p>\n