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2025-01-05T14:25:00-04:00

Angered and disgusted by state of playground

Be mindful of our environment: Rebecca Ronaldson with her 18-month-old son Finley

Used condoms, cigarette butts, strewn garbage and badly overgrown weeds — this was the sight greeting Rebecca Ronaldson on her morning visit to Warwick Long Bay Playground.

The emergency room nurse took her 18-month-old son Finley to the recreation spot for a “fun, easy trip”, only to be left “very annoyed and pretty disgusted” by its deplorable condition.

“What kind of person does this at a playground?” she said, adding that the trash could constitute a health hazard as well as an eyesore.

“Little children want to pick up everything they find on the ground. It’s just a general disregard for public spaces and the environment in general.”

In addition to the waste, some of which may have come from Cup Match revellers the previous weekend, Ms Ronaldson noted the lack of interest in maintaining the area’s natural habitat.

“I know what my grass looks like when it hasn’t been taken care of in a month.

“No one’s been there to tidy up in at least that long,” she said.

“I’ve been to Shelly Bay Playground a couple of times, and I’ve never seen the things there that I see at Warwick Long Bay Playground.”

Ms Ronaldson said that this incident, combined with Horseshoe Bay’s glass waste problem and the illegal garbage dump at Fort Hamilton in the past fortnight, painted a bleak picture for the island.

“Bermuda is known for its pristine outdoor spaces, and to see them polluted by junk that people can’t take two seconds to throw away is pretty sad,” the Warwick resident said.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Environment said: “The Ministry encourages everyone to use public spaces with respect. Parks are maintained on a rota basis. While the Department of Parks endeavours to keep our public spaces groomed, above average rainfall so far this year has taxed the department’s resources.”