Do not pollute!

Letter to the Editor

I hate to come across scenes of fifth and other eyesores – and the sight of people rushing behind derelict buildings or trees to relieve themselves.

I feel that, amongst other things, one should have the right to walk on the fine sandy beaches and relax under the shade of filao trees anytime. Likewise there is sheer pleasure, and it’s so healthy to take to jogging in the forests and even in sugarcane fields.

What irks me is that despite the fact that much time, energy and money are being spent to keep the environment clean, most of us are still not paying any heed to it and instead continue to pollute it. But one should also note the absence of proper infrastructure, or proper maintenance where such exists, in public places for the upkeep of our environment. Take the case of public toilets: many of those that are available in certain places are in squalid conditions, while they are not available in certain other places like post offices, near police stations, bus stations. Examples are Rivière du Rempart (opposite the Youth Centre), Terre Rouge just in front of the police station, etc. The same may be said for other public places around the island.

I do not think we need a foreign expert or a full-fledged commission to take care of these ‘small’ matters which, if done, will go a long way to improving the state of our environment.

H. Sunoo
MORC ST ANDRÉ

* * *

Creole at the MBC

When French news is broadcast on TV, we notice that the local news is almost entirely in Creole because large extracts of interviews in Creole are replayed. This is incomprehensible. Why doesn’t the MBC reserve them when the news in Creole is broadcast? We are fed up hearing so many interviews in Creole during the French news. This is why most people no longer want to see the French news which is replete with Creole.

It is unfortunate to see the deterioration of English and French in our country. Very few students can write good English and French. Many secondary school teachers, leave aside primary school teachers, can merely speak these languages with the proper accent and with no grammatical mistakes. Are interviews for promotion and selection done in Creole at the PSC? The other day I went to an SSS to collect my grandson’s certificate. On seeing me in her office, the lady rector said “Ki ou bisin, monsieur.” I stood frozen. I expected her to address me in either English or French. On top of that, she had a very poor command of English. These two international languages, to our dismay, have gone into decline over the last decade. These are the observations made by Cambridge in its annual report:

“Le niveau de Français ne s’est pas vraiment amélioré. Il est impératif que les candidats n’utilisent plus des creolismes. Le niveau des candidats tend à la baisse année après année.”

This is a grim reality. We fail to realize that English language especially is the engine of globalisation. And to achieve fluency, we must be exposed to the languages in question. I remember once a rector from a Plaines Wilhems SSS told me he preferred to give his interview in Creole to make himself better understood by most people. So they camouflage their inability in public interest! Would the MBC do us a favour to reserve the interviews in Creole for broadcast during the Creole news, please.

N.B.
Quatre Bornes


* Published in print edition on 27 September 2013

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