As evidence of its commitment in this area the government has made what is known as the Grenada 25/25 Declaration. This is the declaration of commitment under the St. George’s Declaration of Principles for Environmental Sustainability. The minister said the Grenada’s 2005 mission under its National Environmental Management Strategy states that the Government and People of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique envision a healthy and productive environment which guarantees the sustainable development activities that contribute fully to social and cultural development, economic prosperity and the quality of human life.

It means therefore that Grenada had made a commitment to the Convention of Biological Diversity to establish a comprehensive system of protected areas by 2010 for terrestrial and 2012 for marine habitat.

Sen. David-Antoine pointed out, “we are committed to ensuring the critical eco-system services provided by our forests and oceans are kept intact, that we act responsibly as the stewards of unique biodiversity and that we ought to sustain our livelihood and that our children may enjoy the quality of life and beauty that our island has provided us with.”

“We also want to contribute to the global targets which are set out in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s), the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation Plan for the World Summit of Sustainable Development and the Mauritius Strategy for Small island Developing States.”

The role of the ordinary citizen.
The minister calls for the involvement of every citizen of the tri-island state in the commitment and pointed out some of the thing we can do in or eliminate from our regular everyday activities to help.

She warns that we should be careful in the way we dispose of things that can be harmful to the environment. Things like old batteries both for vehicles and for electronic appliances; used oil of all kinds for cooking and for machines; cell phones and other e-waste, plastics, tyres and a list of other things that have the potential to harm or destroy the environment. Most of these items if they or residue from them find their way into the water system can wreak havoc.

Educating the public
Senator David-Antoine lamented that although some people know what they have to do to protect the environment they don’t do, but the government through the ministry has a responsibility to provide the people with the necessary information.

Several means are being employed to realize this. One of them is the wide distribution of reader friendly copies of the National Environmental Strategy and Policy.

A lot of consultation has also been held with various stakeholders and with ordinary members of the public on related issues. Programs in both the electronic and print media are being used and fliers are being developed and distributed.

The ministry recognizes the need for constant reminders and also realizes that the best ways to bring the issues home is through the children and therefore emphasis is being placed on giving them the correct information and making them a part of the whole process of getting people to know why they should behave in a certain way toward their environment.

Littering and the laws against it
Asked whether the laws against littering are being enforced, the minister said they are of course on the statute books and efforts are being made to ensure that they are implemented.
However, she feels it is sometimes better to have voluntary compliance than to have to go through taking people to court and meeting out penalties. She said if only people can reproduce that showing of patriotism that was evident for our celebration of independence into looking after our environment and focus on things like not dropping litter and even helping to clean whenever we have the opportunity, it will make a tremendous difference.

She said there are some people who are particularly irresponsible, some truck drivers and haulers of garbage and others who know where the garbage has to be deposited and yet insist on depositing it in people’s land, in waterways or in any other area where nobody is around to see them at that time.

She thinks then that people should consider what they are doing before they do these things and consider the negative effect it will have on their environment and their country.

Rodent and other pest control

That is ongoing and in fact is being stepped up with the Environmental Division of the Ministry of Health together with the Ministry of Agriculture.

But in addition to the rodents we also have the problem of the stray dogs that are causing a problem and the ministry now has all of the structures in place and has started to round up the stray dogs from the Town of St George and from the Grand Anse area. These dogs are then taken to a holding area and the ministry is working closely with St. George’s University for euthanasia etc.

Health and Cricket World Cup

Health preparation for Cricket World Cup is being taken very seriously. As a matter of fact the Health Minister said the relevant people within the ministry meet twice per week to assess and plan.
There is a coordinator who was employed temporarily by the ministry specifically to coordinate all of the various areas such as facilities, resources-human and other, along with the Public Health issues which are extremely important. Food handling, port health, safety of water to ensure that water sources are secured and safe, ambulances, mass casualties housing of persons, the subject of HIV/AIDS, inventory of medication, vaccines in case some visitors require certain vaccination while they are here. It is a vast area that has to be coordinated and there is no room for slip ups.

The local ministry like all of the other host countries is working with the Caribbean Epidemiological Center (CAREC) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to be prepared for the possibility of visitors arriving with communicable diseases. There are guidelines and information that is being disseminated and follow through taking place on a very strict basis.

The minister reminded that the threat of Bird Flu is still out there and that is something that is very much in the minds of the people responsible and they have their structures in place to be prepared. The system is being tested at every opportunity. In the school sports that are taking place, the independence celebrations and such areas.

Memoranda of understanding have been signed with all of the private enterprises concerned with health including the undertakers so should there be any emergency during the games or any other man made or natural disaster, processes and already laid down and procedures established.

School and Community Health

That needs to be given more attention Sen. David-Antoine said and this year one of the priority areas within the Ministry of Health and for the Government of Grenada is looking at the Primary Health Care and prevention. One of the things being worked on is the admission and discharge procedures, people going into hospital and coming out. The ministry is looking at encouraging and having more and more of the chronic diseases clinic within the community medical stations so that people can go and get information, have their blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels checked.

Community nurses can be advising people on exercise programs, proper nutrition and other important areas.
The MOH is also working closely with the Grenada Food and Nutrition Council and the Ministry of Education. They have started a process of monitoring what children eat at school, things that are sold on school compounds by vendors and the nutritional value of the drinks that are available.

The size of the task The minister, who has a deep background in the field of health said keeping thing organized and rolling along smoothly is no easy task and she depends a lot on the technical people within the ministry and regional and international organizations.

However she admits that having a background in the area helps because she may know the fight questions to ask, the right people from whom to seek the necessary help and support.

Having worked in the area of health in a number of places and at different levels has helped to prepare her. The link between health and other areas of the society

This cannot be over stated the minister said. A healthy person is a wealthy person not in terms of bank account but if you have health you have most things.
By this she meant not just physical health but emotional, mental and spiritual as well.

This, the trained nurse with several years of international practice is convinced put one in a position to deal with challenges.
She thinks we are fortunate in Grenada to have the portfolio of the Ministry of Health linked with that of Ecclesiastical Relations and the Environment which means that one is looking at thing in a broad spectrum that includes all or those areas.
The ultimate goal of the minister, her staff and the government is long term and sustainable focus on the health of the environment and the people. She said we must move forward with a vision and the vision of the Prime Minister and the government of a healthy, educated population is one that stands out very clearly.

The minister expressed her gratitude to all of those who help her with her tasks, those who take instructions and carry them out effectively and those who come forward and volunteer their time and efforts. At the same time she apologizes for any perceived flaws in the system asking for the help of the public in bringing them to her attention.

These problems she said represent more an attitude problem than a lack of skill and ability or an institutional problem since the level of health training within Grenada is up there with the best.