Last weekend’s coastal clean-up at Little Bay Beach and the nearby pond (see Monday newspaper) confirmed what was already clear. Littering continues to be a huge problem in St. Maarten.
Society should be thankful for the 140 volunteers who picked up the rubbish left by others. They collected 1,331 pounds in about 90 minutes, mostly glass and plastic bottles, caps, cups and Styrofoam containers.
To be sure, local legislation banning the latter and single use plastics including shopping bags already exists but has not yet been implemented. A transition period was obviously needed for awareness campaigns and businesses to adapt, but the question remains how much longer the island and its people can be asked to wait.
Just as important as rules and regulations is their enforcement. The large-scale depositing of building materials in the same area indicates the glaring lack of such.
Dumping waste has always been illegal, yet it happens practically every day at different locations, some not unknown to authorities. And this is usually not the result of ignorance but rather greed, saving money by not going to the landfill as required.
When people consistently get away with wrongdoings these become harder to stop. It therefore seems obvious that the country needs a sort of “trash patrol” to actively go after and catch culprits, preferably red-handed.
Hefty fines, vehicle confiscation and if necessary even jail-time for repeat offenders might at least make them think twice next time around.
