POND ISLAND--The constantly-smoking dump towering over Philipsburg and its environs is “toxic,” says new Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Minister Miklos Giterson, who is concerned about the fumes residents and visitors are breathing in.
“I consider it a giant monster,” he said at his first Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday.
The dump is one of the country’s “biggest” problems and one he plans to tackle as soon as possible along with climate change and environmental awareness.
Giterson, who worked as a civil servant in VROMI prior to taking up the Minister’s post, said a review of the Ministry’s “legal obligations” was on the way to prevent penalties that could be levied by the court in ongoing and any future litigation.
Featured on his priority list are finalising the repairs to A.Th. Illidge Road, improving waste management, salvaging boat and car wrecks, replacing the country’s only set of traffic lights, connecting several sewage pumps, the sewage treatment plant and tackling the deteriorating road network.
He said the country is “very famous for its potholes.” His focus is to fix these “in a rush and speed.”
Giterson also has high on this priority list a remedy for the people still sheltering in Festival Village since Hurricane Irma in September 2017.
Homeowners can still apply for assistance via the roof repair programme with VROMI. This relief is tagged to “strict conditions.”
