In Ah Flash: Urban Muscle

These photos were taken during the day time at Ariapita Avenue on carnival Tuesday amidst the celebrations. This area was where the celebrations weren’t as intense as no music bands and trucks passed here with frequency. Nonetheless evidence of littering and pollution is quite clear as in the first photo debris is scattered across the road whilst in the second photo attempts were made to heap up the garbage in one spot. Due to my high level of enthusiasm and excitement I was unable to take photos deep within the celebrations, however it is evident that carnival celebrations lead to the pollution of the city. Over the years there have been many policies and strategies implemented to reduce and clean up Port of Spain immediately after celebrations come to a halt. At certain locations within the city such as by the Queens Park savannah efforts were made to deploy CEPEP workers to clean and maintain a certain quality during carnival celebrations. I must say that they did an extremely good job this year as one is accustom to high levels of scattered garbage.

As I was going home during the early hours (2am) of Ash Wednesday I couldn’t help but notice how efficient and successful the clean-up crews were.Garbage trucks as well as countless CEPEP workers were observed cleaning up the city. They worked quite diligently and were successful as P.O.S. was clean before the start of the work day on Ash Wednesday. This showed how urban cities are improving not only economically but are also improving efficiency. The strategies implemented showed how the environment and nature were valued. 

According to Ash Amin and Stephen Graham (1997) “Cities are being misused as people are confused as to the purpose of it and what it can achieve”. This thought seems to be somewhat true as people mainly use the city for economic purposes neglecting other aspects such as socio-cultural factors. Carnival celebrations nowadays seem to have lost most of its traditional values, with the main goals being making money and having a good time. The link below shows how diligent and efficient urban cities can be when it comes to cleaning up after massive events. CEPEP gangs and URP workers are hired to work during and after events, to ensure a high quality atmosphere and the rapid clean up of garbage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9FTQx0hvWo

References:

Amin, Ash and Stephen Graham . "The Ordinary City." Progress in Human Geography 22 (1997): doi:10.1177/030913257700100119.

Personal Injury Lawyer, Medical Malpractice Attorney, Finz & Finz, P.C., New York, NY. "Effects of Land Pollution, Environmental Pollution - Finz & Finz, New York, NY." Accessed April 12, 2014. http://finzfirm.com/Toxic-Exposure/Environmental-Pollution.shtml.