Road hazard

For months, drivers have a faced a serious hazard on the Ridge Road east of the Belle Vue junction. As work has continued slowly on a roadside house, a dumpster has been placed in the roadway under a plywood chute coming from the construction site. The bin is extremely dangerous: It is near a blind curve, and it effectively reduces the roadway to one lane. After it had been there for months, it was removed for a time a few weeks ago. However, even then the chute remained full of galvanised sheeting, which hung over the road in a very dangerous manner. Now, the Dumpster is back, and again blocking much of the road. A Beaconite understands that the hurricane recovery is a slow process, and he can even understand the need for a Dumpster to be located in the road for a day or two as long as proper warning signs are installed in the area. However, it is completely unacceptable for the bin to be left in place for months with apparently no regard for public safety. The property owners should devise another method for disposing of trash, and if they don’t the police and other authorities should take immediate action. The current situation is a catastrophic accident waiting to happen. It never should have been allowed to continue so long.

 

Keeping clean

At a recent tourism stakeholder meeting hosted by the BVI Tourist Board, it was interesting, but not surprising, that as soon as the floor opened for questions and comments, the first subject broached was waste disposal — in particular an overflowing garbage bin near the Road Town ferry dock, which one attendee called “unacceptable.” “Walk a little farther and use a different bin,” a waste management worker, who was also in the audience, suggested. This one conversation — which wasn’t the last one on the same topic — is indicative of the fact that garbage has become one of the territory’s biggest bugbears, with emotions running high and plenty of finger pointing to go around. BVITB Director Sharon Flax-Brutus agreed with what was said, but she also explained, as nicely as possible, that as much as the BVITB employees concern themselves with providing a great visitor experience, keeping the territory clean is not solely their responsibility: It’s everybody’s. After all, most tourists are gone in a week or so; residents have to live here year round. Until everyone starts taking that responsibility seriously, nothing will change.

 

Fresh fish

With the help of her coworkers, a Beaconite found fresh local fish just down the street from her office on Friday afternoon. At first, she thought she was lost, driving into what looked like an abandoned harbour. But she trusted her coworker’s advice, parked and patiently waited for some signs. The lot was getting full, and it seemed like people were gathering for a reason. Her Spidey senses were tingling. A few minutes later, she saw people standing in a group with some wooden posts and a blue, metal thing, all of which appeared suddenly. A pickup truck backed up to the group of people and a white tray was brought out onto the wooden posts. That must be a fish tray, she thought! She got out of the car and sure enough, coolers were being opened as men slapped freshly caught fish onto the tray. The rules were simple: Don’t touch the fish until everything was out. Someone offered the reporter a plastic bag. Sure enough, everyone had one in hand and everyone was putting on black gloves. Once all the fish was on the table, it was a free for all. The reporter grabbed three fish for $9 and cooked them the very same day. It was delicious. Next time, she’s going for the lobsters.