The impact of heavy rainfall over the past week (see related stories) should indeed serve as eye-opener. Although the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is not over yet, this was the result of a cold front from North America that normally wouldn’t reach this far, combined with available local moisture.
The last few days again proved that it doesn’t take a named storm or even tropical system to cause significant flash flooding and rockslide issues. That the pumps at Great Salt Pond broke down didn’t exactly help, although they could thankfully be repaired within 48 hours.
Caretaker Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Patrice Gumbs correctly concluded that development has outpaced St. Maarten’s infrastructure, which is not designed for the kind of high building-density now seen. Basically unchecked indiscriminate construction practices, particularly on hillsides, seriously hampered the country’s ability to handle large amounts of precipitation over a short period.
Calls have recently been made for a moratorium on large projects, which the former VROMI minister considered too drastic. Certainly where it regards deforestation on the hills, however, something needs to be done.
Especially with more extreme weather phenomena foreseen due to climate change, this is no longer just a matter of limiting inconvenience and protecting nature, but also safeguarding the tourism economy and – ultimately – survival of the population.
The current minister spoke of tough choices and said going forward people won’t be able to “build as they wish” any more on both private and public land. He is expected back in the Mercelina II Cabinet scheduled to take office on November 26 and will thus be in a perfect position to put his words into action.
