MULLET BAY--Nature Foundation has reiterated its call to lawmakers and government to take the management of the country’s beaches seriously. Reinforcing this call is the recent discovery of an illegally-built toilet on Mullet Bay Beach.
“We were beyond surprised when we saw that someone built a toilet on the beach at Mullet Bay. The toilet included a wooden structure, an actual toilet and a plumbing system that channels excrement into foliage right on the beach,” said Nature Foundation Manager Tadzio Bervoets.
The relevant government departments have not responded to alerts about the toilet in spite of receiving these from beachgoers and beach bar operators on Mullet Bay. “We have sent the information to the VROMI Inspection department and hope that the structure can be removed immediately,” said Bervoets.
The foundation has previously had to respond several times to issues affecting beaches, including illegal beach construction, heavy equipment and other vehicles driving and parking on the beaches, structures such as fences being built, significant amounts of trash being left on beaches, and beach access being restricted.
“Over the past few months we have constantly been faced with having to respond to issues occurring on the beaches. We would like to remind both the public and decision-makers that beaches are our most important natural resource and all must be done to protect and sustainably develop this resource,” said Bervoets.
“Unsustainable activities such as beach construction, driving on beaches and littering on beaches not only have significant environmental effects, but also affect the economy and the image of St. Maarten as we are trying to rebuild.”
The protection, conservation and proper management of beaches should be established in law. Nature Foundation again issued a call to Parliament to come with concrete legislation on beach management and protection of the beaches’ ecological and economic importance.
“There is, or was, a Beach Policy in place, but for all intents and purposes this policy is non-functioning or not being taken into consideration,” said Bervoets.
