In another G-20 Summit news release, Pittsburgh officials have said that thousands of people are bringing tents and sleeping bags in hopes of having a place to stay when they get to Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, the G-20 summit is a week away, and Pittsburgh officials, are STILL scratching their heads in an attempt to find a suitable area to camp for these protesters. My question in all of this, is now that the G-20 is a week away, why are we still trying to plan things that should of been taken care of? I mean, we all knew thousands of people would be coming into the are to protest whatever they believe in, but why wait until the end and make it the last thing. It only will cause more frustration and pressure on the officials to provide with a more hasty effort causing possible tension between the protester and the secruit in place to protect everyone.
Kim Teplitzky, of Three Rivers Climate Convergence, said her group is bringing in “up to 500 people who will want places to stay” before and during the Sept. 24 and 25 gathering of world leaders here.
The message she’s hearing from friends nationwide: “We’re coming to Pittsburgh. … If we don’t start telling the people who are coming in where to go, they’re just going to hit the streets of Pittsburgh, and who knows what will happen.”
It’s apparent that these people have no regard for the situation that’s about to take in this city. Also, it’s becoming even more apparent that these people are willing to do what it takes to get their point across. This is where the local politicians are failing in the eyes of it’s own population. We were 10 on the list of possible cities to house the G-20. There were many before us, but why were we picked? Now, since that we are the ones getting the meeting, why are we doing this so shotty? It just seems as if next week really will spell trouble for a great number of people.
Representatives of the groups said that the city countered with concerns that camps would be expensive to police, might disrupt preparations for The Great Race on Sept. 27, and could become swine flu breeding grounds.
Calling a sustainability-focused camp a breeding ground for swine flu is “absurd,” said David Meieran, a veteran protester who attended the meeting. “They are deliberately trying to limit our numbers.”
This is where I feel for the protesters in this situation. While this whole swine flue thing is more of a regular influenza than anything, it was a comment not really needed in order to control the masses. It’s a scare tactic, and disrespectful to the people that have opinions by limiting them on what they could do. Personally, I only see disaster in this situation as well. As of right now, we are currently a week away, tensions are building, and I hope parts of downtown make it through with little to no issue so we can all manage our day to day duties.
I just hope officials, security, and protesters keep their calm and make everything peaceful, but I hardly see that happening.
Thu, Sep 10, 2009
Daily, Events, Political