I think I'll have to stop reading the newspapers; this place is in worse shape than I ever imagined. Well, I had imagined it, but to have it validated in print is a lot to swallow.
This controversy over the building of the school in Maraval is the tip of the massive iceberg. I do empathise with the local residents. There are rules and regulations to be followed before a building is built or restructured and those rules were apparently not followed. It is an insidious disease occurring all over this country.
To add to this huge mess, you need only listen to what a worker on an illegal construction site had to say. He more or less said that the EMA could say what they want, but big money was involved and the work would continue. Really? This, I'm afraid to say, is the general attitude all around.
Let's not forget the recent "work" done on Greyfriars Church. Yet another example of people's unwillingness to follow rules. But these building infractions are the high-profile ones we see in the media. What about the thousands of others taking place every day, that John Public is wringing his hands over? Who is going to put a stop to those?
The neighbour who built onto your wall and has his guttering hanging over your property? The townhouse who has added on where nothing should be changed on the exterior of a building? The imbecile who puts a pipe in the roadside drain to make it easier to drive into his driveway and which causes a mess when two leaves block the natural flow of water? The neighbour who attaches his property to your boundary wall, although there should be at least a three-foot step back from the wall? Who is going to stop it?
If we are ever to step up from Third World status, we have to start obeying the rules. And until that happens, I expect those with the authority to do so, to ensure that we do.
Anne Murphy