[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen I am asked why the 2018 Labour Day (May Day) activities were so low-keyed, I reply with three simple letters: LSE. By this I do not mean the London School of Economics; far be it from me to draw such a prestigious institution into the excuse that has become Labour Day observances in Saint Lucia. For my part, there are too many imposters within the trade union movement who have no love for the working class of this island. Too many are not prepared to make any sacrifices for the benefit of workers. In addition, today’s practitioners seem to lack the energy necessary for celebrating the Labour movement minus political hacks. It’s an uncomfortable fact that the love, sacrifice and energy that George Odlum, Frances Michel and others brought to the Labour movement in the 1970s is rapidly dissipating. So-called trade unionists, who dance only when directed by their party bosses, have regrettably infiltrated the movement.
An equally disturbing matter not connected to May Day is the poor disposal of garbage by too many on this island. Flies from the Vieux Fort garbage dump continue to be a nuisance to the patients at the make-shift hospital. Fly control is not rocket science! The government has to decide soonest when it will begin building a new hospital in the south. Once this happens its best experts need to identify a new site for a garbage dump. Within two to four weeks such a site should be ready and the present horror totally covered and rendered pest-free. It’s also high time that Saint Lucians stopped placing used shopping bags with garbage on the roadside on collection days. This is so uncool! In fact, that practice should be made illegal, if it hasn’t already. Every household must be encouraged to place its disposable plastic garbage bags into non-disposable heavy-duty plastic barrels or half barrels on garbage collection days in such a way as to frustrate the efforts of stray dogs. It seems an abused cultural practice for those who live in nice, expensive homes to place plastic bags at the roadside on garbage collection days, only to have the dogs beating the dump trucks to the feast. And since we like to be in style, the owners of these new garbage bins should also be encouraged to paint them in decorative colours, for obvious reasons.
