The dump fires drama enters its fourth day today, Thursday, with no end in sight. About 33 persons left homeless by monster Hurricane Irma had to be relocated from the temporary shelters at Festival Village and the Little League Ballpark to the St, Peters community centre, where they were to receive the same meals and security service.
Nature Foundation will hand out its last 350 free facemasks at Carrefour from noon, but says it ran out of means to do more. While the valiant fight against these blazes continued, particularly the one at the new depot for hurricane debris was proving hard to extinguish due to where it is situated and the large quantity of unburied trash.
Both former Prime Minister William Marlin and current opposition member Frans Richardson said a lack of stability in Government contributed to the growing solid-waste-processing problem not being tackled effectively. On the other hand, Health and Environment Minister Emil Lee told Parliament the contract to manage the sanitary landfill had been renewed in December 2017 without significant changes despite serious shortcomings noted by government accountant bureau SOAB.
He said flaws included a fixed weekly amount of dirt to cover garbage, which leaves some exposed to oxygen and increases the fire risk. The Minister also mentioned the facility operator’s failure to comply with stipulations such as having at least eight surveillance cameras and providing 24/7 security.
According to Lee, due to the extension granted not much can be done for a year. However, when written agreements are violated they can become non-binding unless the infractions are properly addressed.
There is a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Enviro Green for a waste-to-energy plant, but concerns were expressed over the country guaranteeing an investment of 70 million Antillean guilders and the role of utility company GEBE as intended buyer of the power produced. Besides that, these plans were made before the second dump had to be created post-Irma.
The way things stand now, the best option would seem to be an integral and comprehensive approach to tackle the issue and reduce this serious health threat once and for all. Such a project could be financed from recovery funds made available by the Netherlands via the World Bank.
Dutch State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops is expected in Philipsburg today, Thursday to discuss the latter and probably will be able to not only see but smell the dump fire personally. Although perhaps a bit embarrassing, that may well prove a blessing in disguise, because it should help him understand how urgent this matter really is.
