Our collective hearts go out to the Dominican Republic, where up to early Monday flooding (see related story) forced 30,000 inhabitants to evacuate and left three persons dead. Torrential rains from atmospheric systems have hovered over the Caribbean nation, hurling rain onto much of its northern region for more than a month.
Fourteen communities were left isolated, 6,100 homes inundated, and highways and bridges damaged. Readers sympathise with the sizeable local Dominicano population at this no doubt difficult time for many among them.
What this again shows is that it doesn’t take a hurricane, tropical storm or depression to cause major problems in the region. Heavy, persistent precipitation alone can threaten limited water run-off capacity on most islands with disastrous results and St. Maarten too has experienced such in the recent past.
That’s one of the reasons why today’s report about the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) inviting local contractors and consultants to an informative session on bidding for an upcoming sanitation project in Dutch Quarter is important. Led by the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure, VROMI, this builds upon the 9th and 10th European Development Fund (EDF) cycles, which initiated related improvements. It represents a continuation of the programme aimed at modernising collective sewage and storm-water drainage in the area and forms part of government’s broader commitment to strengthening essential public infrastructure and promoting sustainable development, particularly in densely populated areas. The clarification is helpful, because to most residents and motorists passing through it must feel like sewerage works have been going on there pretty much forever.
Also, because of the latter, hosting a webinar to ensure this latest effort benefits the local economy seems to be a good idea. Specifically tailored for construction companies with proven sanitation experience in St. Maarten as well as engineering and consulting firms specialising in the supervision of island-based sanitation projects, the goal is to engage the local market and equip businesses with the technical and digital tools required for a successful bid.
Although these new works will likely bring some additional inconvenience, more extreme weather event are expected as the planet heats up. The country needs to become perhaps not fully climate change proof – if that’s even possible – but at least resistant.
