That the Unleashed Potential Group (UPG) consisting of pre- and post-graduate students from the Windward Islands wants to help seek solutions for St. Maarten’s garbage-processing problem (see related story) is commendable. There are long-standing plans for a waste-to-energy plant, but so far they have remained only on paper.
Caretaker Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Angel Meyers told the Central Committee of Parliament during the handling of the draft 2017 budget last Thursday that the idea of shipping out recyclables has not moved because nobody wants the “unsorted” items. He said a material-recovery system is therefore being looked into.
During Monday’s plenary session the Minister added that changes must be made to the current management of the sanitary landfill and Government accountant SOAB is evaluating the contract for such to see what can be done. In the meantime the dump keeps growing and pollutants continue to seep into Great Salt Pond with all possible consequences, while frequent fires there present a serious threat to public health and nature alike.
Moreover, “trash mountain” is turning into a major eyesore right outside Philipsburg, which obviously doesn’t have a positive impact on the tourism economy. People all over the world, including visitors, are becoming ecologically conscious and this is certainly not the image any vacation destination would want to portray nowadays.
So UPG’s offer is most welcome. In fact, with technology constantly evolving, allowing bright young scholars who care about the island and may be more aware of the latest developments to research the various options in a scientific manner and giving them real input appears to be a no-brainer.
