A HANGING OFFENCE
THE inaction of the State Government to eradicate the Charters Towers bat plague is shameful.
As has been regularly reported, flying foxes and bats carry harmful bacteria and viruses.
A few years ago, my wife and I were in Charters Towers for the day and had decided to eat our lunch under the shade of a large tree which was on the edge of the park close to the business centre of the town.
Unwittingly, we were soon subjected to a urine laden stench that wafted in through the opened windows of the car and soon realised we were experiencing first- hand, at Lissner Park, what had been frequently reported on by the media.
One can only wonder what that does to tourism and the tourist dollars that would normally flow into the town.
By comparison, the State Government has slapped a local golf club with an Environmental Protection Order after investigating complaints from residents about sewage odour. Why is the Charters Towers community treated differently?
If thousands, even hundreds, of kangaroos suddenly decided to make Charters Towers their home, arrangements would be quickly formulated to cull the animals or move them elsewhere.
Why? Because the town could not function and humans come before animals.
Furthermore, 90,000 unborn Australian babies, including some who are approaching fullterm, are culled every year with the approval of State and Federal governments.
What kind of moral compass are our elected leaders being guided by and what is the hesitation when it comes to the bat plague?
The frustrations of the electorate is the leadership vacuum for a range of pressing social and community issues in our region, not the least of which is the Charters Towers bat infestation.
We humans, made in the image of God, have been instructed to “… have dominion ( be good stewards) over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1: 26.
Many residents in the town have experienced a loss of enjoyment of life.
Good stewardship or management, means adopting a procedure, eg culling to manageable numbers, whereby the bats do not present a risk to health and the ability of the residents to participate in the activities or pleasures of life that they formerly enjoyed, are restored. STEPHEN MALCOLM,
Castle Hill.