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ities contribute largely to environmental problems such as pollution and depletion of resources. These problems generated are photochemical smog, burning of garbage, contamination of soil and water ways as well as widespread littering. A lot of people living in the cities are not aware of the natural world; they have even been referred to as a new species “homo urbanus”. Trinidad as well as other developing countries needs to balance development and sustainability, to do this they have to follow the three R’s: reduce. Reuse and recycle. This blog highlights the problems of urban pollution in Trinidad, walking anywhere in Trinidad you must see garbage in a drain. These sites are just not an eye sore but pose a threat to community as well as wildlife. There are many that cherish the space they live in an try to clean up and dispose of the garbage properly but as in every population there are the reckless ones that contributes to the problem. Countless times I’ve seen people throw garbage out of their vehicles, dump garbage in street corners although there is a bin a few feet away. People from the southlands of Trinidad explain that the lifestyle of dumping garbage in the streets is mainly a ‘north people’ way, many locals say they are fed up of pollution. The reason being that Trinidad economy is partly dependent on tourism and these locals depend on tourists to make a living. Urban pollution would deter tourists from coming to the country therefore hampering these locals source of income. In conclusion polluting is not a proper practice and if we want to achieve developed country status we need to get rid of these pre historic ways and preserve and keep the space we live in clean.

Eutrophication in a drain along the priority bus route, this is caused from effluent runoff as well as untreated sewage released into the drain. This is a complete eyesore and any person whether it be a tourist or local would be disgusted when they see this.

A dirty drain located in our capital city.

This is another drain along the priority bus route, this one is filled with garbage, this causes the back up of water causing mosquitos which causes diseases such as dengue and chick V. apart from the diseases theses blocked drains would cause flooding as the water wouldn’t be able to flow easily, it is also an eyesore to everyone. The cleaning of these drains are the responsibilities of the municipal corporations but we as humans and living in this place must keep it clean. As the saying goes, “never poop where you eat”, that saying is plausible in this context as we dirty the same country where we live.

Drain along the Priority Bus Route just outside of the city.