Four days ago, buckling under extreme public pressure, the holder of the country's purse strings withdrew a Budget proposal to tax salt and syrup, among other things. Alas! More diabetes, more hypertension, more medication, more amputations, more hospitalisation, more strokes, more deaths. If ever there were a justifiable tax, this would have been it.

Since the introduction of the free health-care system, the waiting rooms of hospitals and clinic are overcrowded, and the complaints are that resources are stretched to breaking point. The harbingers of doom are predicting a collapse of the health sector. But, in his effort to put more money into the Government's coffers, Man-A-Yard had unwittingly made a stroke of genius.

In a country where we dash salt in abundance on to everything we consume, and which we wash down with a long drink of syrup, we are a people afflicted by high blood pressure and diabetes. Thus, our penchant for sweet and salty things has been costing the country an arm and a leg (pun intended).

Now, fewer people would lose their arms, legs, etc., to diabetes, and high blood pressure would be at an all-time low. Except for the man who was seen in a supermarket the Friday after the tax was announced with a trolley full of salt. He was hoarding before the tax was enforced.

benefits of the tax

The logic is simple. If there were a tax on salt and syrup, the less of them we would have bought and consumed. Fewer people would get sick. The number of those turning up with diabetes and hypertension would drop. Less money would be spent on hospitalisation and medication. What we would have had would have been a healthier and more productive nation.

Then, somebody in Penlyne Castle, Blue Mountains, St Thomas, seemed to have taken the fertiliser issue to a much higher level, literally. For, on a very steep hillside perches a white toilet bowl in full view of birds and beasts. It seems to be a public depository for fertiliser. What else can it be? Now, that is the real stroke of genius!

But why not a shed to cover it? Well, if you know where Penlyne Castle is, you will understand. The view from the hills and ridges is spectacular. Thick, white fogs clothe the naked mountainsides. Birds chirp in trees that stretch to the sky. The place is just peaceful and mystical.

The cool mountain air will soothe you as you make your deposit, and you don't have to worry about being seen. There are not many passers-by, especially in the early mornings, when nature calls. Just sit, relax and behold the beauty of the land.

PS: But will the Penlyne bowl crumble under the weight of public pressure?

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