Opinion: The lucky group enjoying fewer constraints under COVID: developers | emfarrelly
The world is in shutdown, yes? Well, actually, no. You and I are in shutdown, strapped to the chair, straitjacketed and muzzled. But the land-clearers, fossil-fuel extractors, single-use plastic waste generators and grabbit-and-run developers are more avid than ever. They’re not just proceeding apace. They’re revving up. Having a ball.
Governments impoverished by mass wage subsidy, tax loss and ballooning unemployment will be more than ever in thrall to big business. This may seem insignificant now, compared with the immediate life-and-death fears of virus land, but remember. Big Business need you to think that. ItAnd no, to be clear, I’m not saying rip off your mask and rush out into the streets. I’m saying exercise your mind.
Those who yearn to trust government note that the minister can only make such orders if he is “reasonably satisfied” that they’re necessary to “protect the health, safety and welfare of members of the public during the COVID-19 pandemic”. I say, define reasonably. Define health.The trusters murmur gently that such absolutism is only to enable building of hospitals and testing stations. It’s necessary, they say, to allow the conversion of a convention centre, say, to an emergency hospital.
Consider. Construction was already deemed an “essential activity”, which is why half the traffic in our newly deserted streets is construction trucking. One of the minister’s first orders under the new law, on April 2, was to expand building hours so that commercial and infrastructure construction can continue through weekends and public holidays.,” said the minister, “while minimising the potential for lost productivity during the pandemic.
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