Dear Editor,
Nineteen (19), that is how many fresh- and salt-water ponds the southern side of our island St. Martin had up until the 1960s! Today in April of 2025 we have but five (5) remaining! Fourteen (14) have been bulldozed, filled in, built on, their locations, their place in our shared history, for the most part, wiped from our collective memories, invaluable natural- and cultural-heritage destroyed!
One of our five (5) remaining ponds, the Welgelegen Pond or Little Bay Pond as it is commonly known, played an essential role in St. Maarten’s History, particularly in the survival of our ancestors who were enslaved on plantations such as Mary’s Fancy, Industry, Golden Rock (now known as the Emilio Wilson Estate) and Welgelegen.
“Welgelegen Fresh Pond was used for the breeding of freshwater fish, crayfish, crabs, waterfowls etc. … Welgelegen was a Food Pond. It used to produce food to feed at least 91 slaves daily. In times of food scarcity, much of Sint Maarten’s population could count and rely on the pond for their survival. Welgelegen Pond was also of great importance during dry periods. In times of drought Welgelegen pond functioned as a water reserve for water used in irrigation and for washing, drinking, etc.” (Report History and Ownership of Plantation Welgelegen and Little Bay Pond, W.A. Patrick, Stichting Kadaster, St. Maarten, 2001)
The Little Bay Pond is also an important fishing ground for our National Bird, the Brown Pelican, and serves as a nesting, foraging and breeding area for numerous other species of birds, consequently, it is internationally recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA). The mangroves and other vegetation surrounding the pond, and the waters of the pond itself, provide a habitat to countless species of mangrove forest and wetland wildlife.
In addition to its Natural and Cultural Heritage value, the Pond serves as a catchment basin for water from the surrounding hills, thereby preventing excessive flooding in the area and diminishing the pollution of Little Bay (Beach) by terrestrial runoff waters.
Residents including cultural heritage and environmental experts have been calling for the protection and proper management of St. Maarten’s Ponds, including Little Bay Pond, for well over four (4) decades. A little over 10 years ago it seemed as if the countless calls were finally being heeded. The Ministry of VROMI (Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure) of the Government of St. Maarten prepared draft zoning plans, consulted on these with residents and approved preparatory resolutions in anticipation of the finalization and approval of these plans. The final draft versions of these plans clearly listed the Little Bay Pond as a Conservation zone. Unfortunately none of the Ministers of VROMI of the past decade made the effort to submit any of the draft zoning-plans to parliament for debate and approval.
Editor, by now you and your readership may be asking yourself why the long (history) lesson? Well, the unfortunate reality we face today is that Little Bay Pond, this area of immeasurable natural and cultural value, is under imminent threat of destruction by development.
International developers (lagunebay.com) and their on-island local frontmen, business partners and consultants have recently launched their charm offensive aimed at misleading the population into believing the proposed destruction of one of our few remaining ponds is in our collective benefit.
Online based “media houses” have already started to feature articles, which read like paid advertisements, in which the developers flaunt their so-called “environmental and archaeological assessments” conducted by flashy international consultants. These articles claim that the developers will clean and improve the environment. Yet nowhere is there any acknowledgment of the devastating, irreversible consequences that the continued decimation of our Natural, Historical and Cultural Heritage, both tangible and intangible, will have on the identity, dignity, and future of, us, the People of St. Martin, for generations to come. Thus, completely undermining our Constitution, which was ultimately ratified, officially creating Country Sint Maarten, to protect our rights which includes the protection of our heritage for current and future generations.
The term “Sustainable Development” was internationally coined in 1987 in the Brundtland Report and calls for meeting the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Ask yourself, does this development, or do any of the major development projects on St. Martin truly meet this definition to be called “sustainable”?
The developer will continue to take pages from the usual mode of operating. They will:
* claim the development is eco-friendly and call it progressive and sustainable;
* paint the development as the best thing to have happened to St. Martin;
* promise the creation of jobs;
* promise to address the environmental challenges the pond faces;
* claim to have the solution to any potential flooding challenges the area might face because of the development;
* claim the mangroves are not native and were never anywhere on the island;
Additionally they will seek to divide and conquer by:
* conveniently ignoring that the island’s environmental, natural and cultural heritage organizations have been advocating for the sustainable development of the island and for the protection of natural resources for decades;
* claiming that environmental organizations pick and choose their battles and are biased;
Furthermore they will:
* make the organizations out to be elitist and wave the objections off as being about race and, painfully, some of our very own will eat up that claim like a Christmas Guavaberry or Coconut tart;
* those with political influence, yes even those in parliament who stand to gain, will threaten to destabilize government if the coalition dares to intervene to stop the impending destruction;
And perhaps our favorite part of the standard method of operating (you will undoubtedly note our sarcasm) they will (send others to) threaten members of the environmental movement or our direct family members with grievous physical or financial harm. (We have a standard template for filing reports to the police and prosecutor’s office)
The developer and their representatives will make every possible attempt to mask the fact that this “lagunebay” development at Little Bay Pond will not only destroy an ecologically and culturally significant area, as if that in itself isn’t bad enough as it is, but that it will also drastically diminish access to- and the overall recreational value of the beach at Little Bay itself! The project will undeniably further land-lock residents who have already lost unhindered access to beaches at Oyster Bay, Simpson Bay, Burgeux Bay, Guana Bay, Pelican, parts of Mullet Bay and the other half of Little Bay Beach and the rock coastline at different locations all around the island.
Should we allow this planned destruction of Little Bay Pond to take place, the access to yet another beach to be cut off, we are not only erasing a vital piece of our heritage for the lining of the pockets of foreign developers and a handful of their local partners, but we are complicit in the betrayal of future generations of St. Martiners who will inherit nothing but the ruins of what we failed to protect.
What will Parliament do? What will our Ministers do? The bulldozers are on their way.
Rueben J. Thompson
Sint Maarten Pride Foundation
