There is both good and bad news regarding the local environment reported on in today’s paper. To start with the former, it appears recycling in St. Maarten is going better than many might have realised, as Tropical Shipping is sending 462,000 beer/soda cans and eight tonnes of cardboard abroad for processing via All Caribbean.
Mind you, this alone will by no means solve the saturated landfill crisis and frequent dump fires, but it’s encouraging that continued efforts are taking place to prevent at least a small part of the Dutch side’s solid waste from ending up being buried there. Together with the export of scrap metal consisting mainly of car wrecks this alleviates the trash problem a bit.
Less favourable is word that the freshwater well on Narrow Road in Cole Bay tested positive for coliform bacteria, indicating sewage contamination. This is important because such wells are used to fill empty cisterns, with all possible consequences.
What it also confirms is that the much-discussed but never-realised joint sewage plant with the French side for that same area is long overdue and becoming ever more urgent. Pollution is seriously affecting both Simpson Bay Lagoon and apparently the groundwater on a day-to-day basis.
Reversing this trend and seeing positive results may take a while, but a start needs to be made and there is no more time to lose. This matter has gone beyond just a priority and is now becoming a real emergency.
