Thursday’s appeal case regarding the dump (see related story) confirmed what was already becoming clear: the May 1, 2020, deadline set by the lower court for completion of the fire suppression project to be financed from the Dutch-sponsored Trust Fund managed by the World Bank won’t be met.
The argument that 100 families living too close to the “red zone” must first be relocated is a strong one, but then, government and relevant entities, including the National Recovery Programme Bureau (NRPB), have known this for months There was even talk of providing prefab or container homes, but have these been ordered yet?
Other options mentioned were to help cover the cost for people to arrange alternative living accommodations on their own. However, that brings other complications such as ensuring the money is used for adequate housing.
One could say the matter became less urgent because a lot has been done to improve the situation in the meantime and there was only one fire so far this year compared to 32 large- and medium-size ones in 2018. Nevertheless, there is occasionally still a noticeable stench of burning synthetic materials downwind of the area.
If the current target date is indeed no longer considered feasible due to special circumstances, surely a new one should be agreed on, to keep up the pressure on all involved. Also considering the lack of political stability, requiring that kind of commitment seems reasonable enough.
But the bigger picture, namely what to do with St. Maarten’s trash instead of burying it at a landfill which has by far surpassed its intended lifespan, must not be forgotten either. It’s one thing for the Netherlands to advocate a joint structural waste management and processing solution with the French side, but quite another to really make it happen.
