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Charlotte Amalie
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesThis Is a Wake Up Call!

This Is a Wake Up Call!

Dear Source:
Just finished reading Lynda Lohr's exposing article titled, "EPA Administrator Says St. John Development Is Cause for Concern." Over development and spot zoning will do to the Virgin Islands what has happened around the Florida, Puerto Rico and Jamaica's coasts. Most certainly we'll find it everywhere land has been bulldozed. What's saddest to me is that little of the money received for these luxury resort rentals stays here in the V.I. Yes, the snowbirds and honeymooners might eat a meal out here and there and bring back a few trinkets but what should be clearing hillsides are the new projects for youth and families that reside fulltime and must endure the inadequacies of a government that promises healthy lifestyles for all.
This is a wake up call.
Third World Band wrote a song about it, "Sleeper Awake" on their next to last release, "Ain't Givin' Up." There latest album, "Black Gold Green" declares in "Writings On The Wall" featuring Wayne Marshall they sing, "Stop living for yourself and live for one and all!"
My children sent me a lovely Mother's Day package. The T-shirt from Boalt Hall Law School Youth and Education Law Society reads, "We must stand up for children, or we don't stand for much." – Marian Wright Edelman.
Where will the children of St. John learn to swim if the waters get too polluted? What fish will they learn about aside from those in captivity? How will loss of coral reefs affect the local seafood market prices? Will St. John be due for unknown floods due to naked hillsides speckled with masonry palaces and a couple of palm trees? Get active people, this is of crucial concern if you have an investment in the future of St. John without stopping, will cause more warming and more severe storms and it isn't rocket science its Conscience.
Thank you again, St John Source for keeping me informed. I saw thedestruction of the Florida Keys each year as we visited for Christmas on Islamorada and Key Largo over 17 years. The waters were once clear like the U.S. Virgin Islands. Now, all that is history. One Love.
Anna Fisher
Los Angeles, Cal.

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