POND ISLAND--All boat owners are reminded by government that they are not allowed to store or work on their boats on public beaches and are to remove same within seven days starting today, Thursday, on order of the Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI.
When the seven-day period has expired, the Ministry will take action to remove all boats and/or wrecks from the beaches at the owners’ expense. All storage expenses will also be on the owners’ account, including the damage risk in removal process.
A number of boats have been counted on Great Bay Beach in Philipsburg. From preliminary observations, the Ministry said some maintenance is executed on vessels in that location.
The public beach is not a work/repair/storage area or boatyard, acting VROMI Minister Cornelius de Weever said on Wednesday. “If maintenance work is being carried out on the public beach by the boatowner, this is detrimental to the environment. Littering and polluting of the beach and water can take place.”
Boats left parked/stored on the public beach can become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which can be detrimental to public health, he added.
Also, petroleum products and other hazardous substances could leak out of the vessel onto the beach and into the water.
