The GSD has today insisted that Government must do something to rectify the appalling lack of care and maintenance in the Upper Rock Nature Reserve. Many areas are covered in litter, barriers fences and stairs are in a state of disrepair and the pools designed to provide a supply of water for our monkeys’ lie stagnant and abandoned. The situation is utterly unacceptable.
Trevor Hammond, GSD Spokesman for the Environment and Tourism said “While I would remind people that we all have a responsibility for looking after our environment and not littering, this does not excuse Government from providing proper cleaning and maintenance to our number one tourist attraction. Better enforcement of the litter laws would also help. It needs to be remembered that Government has now taken to charging tourists £5 to visit the Upper Rock on foot. I don’t disagree with this but it means the product should be in top condition and it is not, that revenue is clearly going elsewhere.
“The condition of the drinking areas for our macaques is of great concern; they seem to have been abandoned. Millions of people come to Gibraltar every year to see our monkeys, they are a tremendous asset to our tourist product and they must not only be looked after but they must be seen to be looked after, leaving their drinking holes stagnant gives a strong impression of neglect which in turn raises issues of animal care generally and whether other things are also being mismanaged. There is a need for a review of macaque management to ensure all issues around their care are sensitively and efficiently dealt with”
“Unfortunately Government’s complete disregard for the cleanliness and maintenance of our community, something that I and others have been highlighting for a very long time now, sadly to no effect, has spread even to the Upper Rock Nature reserve. Whether in our urban areas or our natural areas, the
Government simply does not care about the terrible state of neglect that it has allowed to develop. The Minister responsible really should be ashamed”.
1a College Lane Gibraltar GX11 1AA
