Not always about money

Re.Ostrich cull cost $6.8 million (Castanet, Jan. 28)

Almost $7 million of taxpayers money was spent in an attempt to address concerns of Universal Ostrich Farms.

Needless to say, as the details between the farm and governing entities were being worked out, the farm attained a lot of local, national and international attention. During that time, any effort to bring awareness of or to give an understanding of the ramifications of the bird flu and it's transmission going unchecked were lost to emotional notoriety.

Now that the monetary cost of addressing the situation—a situation that undeniably became a national spectacle—has been tabulated, let’s not forget the imposition on the community and locals, who will continue to pay as they try to heal from the adversarial tension with Universal Ostrich Farms.

Regardless of what side one favoured, communities, as well as individuals in and around the valley, have been divided, estranged and have even become antagonistic over this national escapade.

Now, having to realize (admit to ourselves) when a fire was started, locals, including the local store, were threatened and the infighting has been absurd. The situation was, and is, tragically dire.

The saddest part is Edgewood is a community where those who rode the bus to school together are now the old-timers, old-timers surviving local squabbles while having shared good times and bad but now have to navigate this sad conundrum.The youth are divided, possibly beyond reconciliation.

This grievous situation cannot be evaluated monetarily. Keep in mind, regardless of the issue, it is not always, nor simply, about the money. Here, local communities pay dearly.

As is now being revealed to the general public, Universal Ostrich Farms is not, and was not, the entirely innocent victim it portrayed itself to be.

Let the healing begin.

J. D. Ruybal/Pasieka