St. Maarten Nature Foundation, based on 10 days of research, is not in favour of filling in 6,000 square metres of Simpson Bay Lagoon west of the causeway to house a joint sewage plant with the French side. The report released on Wednesday says this area is
clearly of high ecological value in terms of mangrove density providing a wetland habitat as well as shelter during inclement weather, sea-grasses that are under severe threat in the lagoon plus species of fish and invertebrates that are relatively abundant.
The non-governmental organisation (NGO) has no legal authority in this matter, but it is an important advisory body regarding environmental policy. Surely its opinion is not to be taken lightly.
Also on Wednesday, Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Angel Meyers again said the proposed site was the best solution, although – in fairness – it’s not clear whether he had yet taken note of the negative advice at the time. He further explained that Marigot had shown “little appetite” for an alternative using land north of the border owned by Louis-Constant Fleming.
This column suggested earlier that it regarded a difficult choice between the current plans and arrangements made by the former UP-led coalition. The latter wanted to swap public land at Kim Sha for an existing empty plot of the Port de Plaisance Group east of the causeway where the purification facility could be situated.
However, Meyers stated this would not have fulfilled the European Union (EU) funding requirement of no residential buildings within a radius of 100 metres, as was the case with the originally-indicated site behind Tropicana Casino. The William Marlin Cabinet also maintains that the parcel at Kim Sha in question had been zoned to construct a parking lot, for which the bidding process is meanwhile underway.
There was some additional concern that giving even more land to the group than it already has there could lead to undesired overdevelopment at the beachfront location. However, ex-VROMI minister Claret Conner explained in a letter to the editor published Saturday, March 12, that the envisioned hotel would include a common parking facility and the extra terrain was to “aid with the ingress and egress of their planned resort.”
The Nature Foundation does recognise that a proper system to process sewage for Cole Bay is crucial, not in the last place because too much presently ends up in the Lagoon with the rainwater runoff. Perhaps there are indeed no better other options to explore before the financing term ends, but building an island in the lagoon that is overburdened as it is appears to be lacking broad support among both stakeholders and the general population.
