• Opinion by Ameenah Gurib-Fakim (port louis, mauritius)
• Monday, January 29, 2024
• Inter Press Service

Sadly, we are going to undergo extra climate-related traumas as a result of as an island nation we’re sorely ill-prepared and we appear to be blithely oblivious to local weather challenges particularly when one takes a have a look at our improvement trajectory.

There may be an pressing have to think about resilience of our infrastructure; our adaptation technique, using acceptable know-how to tell and educate our folks for higher consciousness and preparedness. Once we have a look at current tragedies, we can’t and should not put every thing on the again of a altering local weather, though I’m certain the temptation is nice with a purpose to absolve one among his/her tasks. Pressing measures must be put in place to counteract this new actuality and likewise tackle our vulnerabilities.

There isn’t a doubt that we’ll expertise extra devastating cyclones and they’re going to take our economies again a number of a long time.

It’s the turning into more and more clear that the best way we urbanise, the resilience of our infrastructures, how ‘inexperienced’ we maintain our buildings and panorama will all underscore how properly we adapt to a altering local weather.

Domestically and in lots of components of the world, there’s a excessive proclivity to chop down large swath of forests, drain the ‘Ramsar-protected’ swamps that are the lungs the world; construct bungalows on sea fronts; sacrifice century-old bushes within the identify of ‘improvement’; century-old drains which have survived the check of time, are actually more and more seeped in cement!

In lots of surrounding islands together with Mauritius, buildings are seen popping up on the slopes of mountains. There’s additionally large funding in infrastructure tasks with no visibility on the ‘Surroundings Affect Assessments – EIA’ (absence of Freedom of Info Act in Mauritius prevents the general public from accessing to those important paperwork).

There’s additionally regionally, no visibility on the Flood-prone zones which indicate that folks will maintain constructing in these areas with the surreal penalties now we have seen final week in Port Louis – vehicles piling up, flooded cemeteries reaching folks’s properties, folks being carried away by the sheer drive of the water.

It’s turning into abundantly clear that climate-related occasions will recur and we, because the human race, now we have no alternative however to adapt to our new realities. Time and time once more, the rhetoric of ‘saving the planet’ is talked about. It needs to be introduced house to all of us that Nature has existed earlier than our look 200.000 years in the past and can do properly after now we have gone. So allow us to not be presumptuous to even assume that we will ‘tame’ or ‘save the planet’.. Our rhetoric should be couched in a the next language ‘how we save ourselves within the mild of the disaster now we have unleashed’!.. That might be extra acceptable and way more in line of this truism which is dealing with us.

A part of our adaptation realities demand a tradition of transparency, participatory-leadership, promote larger consciousness among the many common public on what’s at stake and extra importantly, there needs to be accountability from those that we vote to resolve on our behalf. They can not all of a sudden go mum when they’re questioned or go the buck to technical employees whose roles are, usually purely advisory, when issues begin going south. The non-public and materials loss for most of the people are just too painful to see when complete lifetime efforts and financial savings are washed away by the gushing waters.

I’m a resident of city known as Quatre Bornes and which received badly affected by the current floods. I’m tempted to ask for this ‘confidential’ EIA report for the Quatre Bornes tram undertaking in order that we will be enlightened on the remedial actions going ahead?

Could also be those that have been on the helm in 2016 when the choice was taken to start out this mega undertaking can enlighten us ? No?

However that is the place “Actual politik” kicks in..

Those that have been vociferously in opposition to this undertaking throughout the electoral marketing campaign, after they have been within the Opposition (that was earlier than they switched facet and joined the successful get together) are actually its best defenders.

A few of those that actioned the choices when in authorities are actually within the Opposition and are expressing outsized aspirations for larger posts ..hmm.. on the subsequent common elections??.

Actually?

Transparency, Justice and Accountability are the virtues that the general public calls for what we definitely DONOT want are empty rhetoric and guarantees … The survival of our youngsters and grandchildren relies on it and now we have NO proper to sacrifice their future by means of our inaction.

IPS UN Bureau

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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service