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Police drone footage of fire at original landfill dump site

POND ISLAND - Once again, the original dump site at the landfill on Pond Island is on fire. The Fire Department was hard at work on containing the fire at the dump on Pond Island which erupted during the late evening hours of Tuesday, August 7th, ...

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stmaartennews.com
Dear Reader

The. Dump. Is. On. Fire!
Again!

People, we have problem. A national problem. A problem each and every one of us ought to take ownership of.

Where to start?

Let's start with garbage.

We have a garbage problem.

Ten of thousands of dollars have been spent on research, plans and projects by successive governments, private citizens, businessmen, government leaders, commissioners, ministers and construction companies. All looked into possible solutions for the garbage collection, recycling, disposal and waste management. To no avail.

We never solved our garbage disposal problem except to dump everything - literally everything - together on one big pile of heap in the middle of our pond and turn it into what is today a giant burning mound of garbage, smoldering, smoking and once again, like tonight, blazing afire.

The pond - a natural catchment for water runoff - has been turned from what could have been a national monument of mangroves, a natural source of all kinds of fresh fish and crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish and shrimps, into a pool of putrid, polluted, chemically infested toxic environment where only the most hardened creatures and mutated insects can survive.

The only reason the dump has not (yet) exploded into a giant volcanic eruption is because the built-up methane underground manages to bleed off due to improper covering up of the garbage dumped and covered with dirt, sand, gravel and rubble over the years.

There has been many solutions proposed going back as far as the early 1990's. That is now almost 30 years ago. 30 years and not one solution implemented yet. We should be ashamed of ourselves.

It is understood the Island Council back in the day implemented legislation to have garbage fees collected via NV GEBE's electricity and water bills as a part of its concession. That has never been implemented as far as we know. This money could have been used to finance a proper waste management infrastructure on the island, starting from right in the neighborhoods.

Community Councils would have been the perfect place to start in the community process of empowerment to kickstart recycling procedures by implementing garbage separation projects from right in the districts themselves, the source of all garbage creation on our island, starting in our homes itself.

There are now machines that can be placed in neighborhoods that can start the separation and treatment process of all kinds of garbage and waste, from bottles, plastics, cans, to food, vegetables and all kinds of organic wastes, to chemicals, metals, scraps, to even vehicles and tires.

What could not be recycled should have indeed ended up on the dump for a future solution.

Now everything is dumped on the landfill in Philipsburg and serve as a compost for creating methane that fuel the constant fires and blazes on the dump with toxic emissions and air pollutants as byproducts.

So what do we do?

We cannot continue this way. We cannot continue to close our doors and windows. We are all downwind at this stage.

The dump is slowly killing us, killing our people, killing our natural environment, killing our tourism product, killing our island.

What we can do now is call on our (political, business and community) leaders to come together and have a round-table conference and work out a public private partnership that has one goal and one goal only: to solve the dump and garbage issues once and for all.

You cannot solve one without the other. An integral and holistic approach needs to be taken.

Let's be clear.... We cannot solve the dump problem and the garbage issues without the involvement of Government (think VROMI, Finance, Education, etc.), government-owned companies (like GEBE, the Harbour, Airport, etc), the districts (think Cay Bay, Philipsburg, Point Blanche, etc.), semi-public entities (think Community Councils, NGOs, etc.) and the private sector (think the SHTA, Businesses (such as construction companies, garbage collection companies, trucking companies, cleaning companies, etc.), Hotels, you name it.

And last of all, Politicians.

That means you Theo Heyliger, you William Marlin, you Silveria Jacobs, you Sarah Wescot-Williams, you Frans Richardson, you Wycliffe Smith, and all other politicians, parliamentarians and government ministers. All of you need to be involved.

We are calling on all and every one of you to come to the table and discuss solutions, not the problems, but the ways to solve this problem, not who ought to get what, but what the people need to get. This problem is bigger than each of us individually. This problem is not about money. This problem - and the solution it entails - is about our national survival as an island, as a country and as a people.

What are you waiting for?

For another dump fire?

Well, it is burning again.

The. Dump. Is. On. Fire.

Time. For. A. Solution!

Terrance Rey
The Publisher
StMaartenNews.com

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StMaartenNews.com Top Stories
MP Theo Heyliger appeared before Common Court yesterday

Member of Parliament Theo Heyliger appeared before a panel of judges as the Prosecutor Office seeks permission from the court to investigate and prosecute the MP. The catfish investigation began in August 2017 and it has to do with alleged bribery.

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The presumption of innocence

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MP Doran: Government is not the place for "WAR" but "WORK"

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Emergency Income Support Grant Signed

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USM welcomes new students during Orientation Day

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Beautification works of Philipsburg to restart on Friday

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StMaartenNews.com Sports News
NEW BOARD MEMBERS OUALICHI SOCCER ASSOCIATION

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SXMNBA partakes in The Rock da Rim Survival of the...

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Registration Now Open for EXPO section at #SPORTSMATTER...

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StMaartenNews.com Notices
ODM: Don't become Complacent. Be Prepared

GREAT BAY, (DCOMM) - Fire Chief and National Disaster Coordinator Clive Richardson, is calling on the community to use the time now to re-check storm preparations and to be prepared for the remaining months of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season....

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www.soualiganewsday.com
PUBLIC NOTICE from Milton Peters College (MPC)

To all parents/guardians and students of the Milton Peters College: We would like to inform all parents/guardians of the students attending the Milton Peters College as follows: 1. The schedule for picking up the school books for the academic year...

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StMaartenNews.com Announcements
Traffic interruption on Cay Bay road starting Tuesday, Aug 7

GREAT BAY, (DCOMM) - Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI), announces that there will be interruption with the traffic flow on the Cay Bay road on Tuesday, August 07, 2018, until Sunday,...

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Breastfeeding is the "Foundation of Life"

GREAT BAY, (DCOMM) - The Collective Prevention Services (CPS) an executing department of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, the Department of Labour, would like to inform the Sint Maarten community that World...

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NAGICO launches the Hurricane Xtra Policy

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stmaartennews.com
WIB Supports "Back to School Drive"

SINT MAARTEN (PHILIPSBURG) - The Windward Islands Bank Ltd. (WIB) supports the "3 rd annual Back to School Drive" spearheaded by student Ki-Mani Olivacce, who has called upon the community to donate school supply items for children in need. WIB...

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Philipsburg Jubilee Library closed for inventory August 13

The Philipsburg Jubilee Library will be closed on Monday 13th, 2018, from 8am to 5pm, to continue salvaging materials before the peak of the hurricane season and the possible departure of our current building as it cannot withstand another hit ...

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www.soualiganewsday.com
"Rio goes Green" - regular plastic cups banned from parade

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MFK: Prime Minister must explain what the Arawak Project is

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New financial stop another blow for contractors

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Turtle's beach cleaned up

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Esther Narcisco in 'The Rise and Fall of King Solomon' play

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Christian Fellowship Total Restoration Dance Ministry to ...

SINT MAARTEN (SUCKER GARDEN) - Ever since returning to the island with a Master's degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor's degree in Finance, Catherina Carbon of Christian Fellowship Church continues to make waves across the island as...

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SXM Airways Now Able to Execute Saba flights

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WolBES and FinBES Now Available in 'Simple Language'

Recently, Island Governor Edison Rijna of Bonaire received the first copy of the book 'De WolBES and FinBES in simple language from the hands of state secretary Raymond Knops, in the presence of the author Els Boers. The book was...

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Research into murder and deadly gang violence on the islands

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CPS: Prevent Drowning this School Holiday Season

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CPS: Stay cool and hydrated during extremely hot weather

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CPS Advises: Ensure your Vaccination Status is Up to Date

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CPS Men's Health 2018: Living a healthier life and more...

GREAT BAY - Sint Maarten (DCOMM) - The lack of physical activity is seen as a health threat. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around the world, not enough people are active; one in four adults and four out of five adolescents are ...

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Review LuminAID Packlite Max, a Solar Powered Phone Charger

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CPS calls on communities to clean-up mosquito breeding sites

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StMaartenNews.com Dutch News
Delft criminal shot dead outside cafe; he had it coming, ...

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StMaartenNews.com - Regional News
Jamaica Police Increasing Use of Technology to Arrest...

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Tuesday August 7, 2018- Within the next three years, Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) personnel will be using more technological solutions in their daily operations in a bid to reduce incidents of crime and their likely occurrence.

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Six Arrested in Connection with Alleged Assassination...

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USVI small-manufacturing entrepreneurs to promote products

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Weather Forecast: Wednesday to Friday

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StMaartenNews.com The Dump Dossier
StMaartenNews.com - The Dump Dossier

If you search the words 'dump', 'landfill', 'fire' or 'garbage' on our website at StMaartenNews.com, you are sure the find a series of articles, news reports, opinion pieces and commentaries on the dump that can now call the 'Dump Dossier'.

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stmaartennews.com
A brief history of the dump

By Hilbert Haar ~ In June 2008 I wrote an article under the headline "Landfill remains until the end of 2010." It appeared in the now defunct Today newspaper. In the meantime we know better. The landfill is not going anywhere for a very long time...

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stmaartennews.com
To write or not to write.... about the dump fire again

Last week Saturday, Carnival Fascination cruise ship was informed about the smoke from the dump by the port authorities and advised not to make a call at the port of St. Maarten. Despite this the captain decided, after assessing the situation, to ...

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stmaartennews.com
SHTA Call to Action Regarding the Dump

PHILIPSBURG - "Dear His Majesty King Willem Alexander, His Excellency the Governor Eugene Holiday, Council of Ministers, Honorable Members of Parliament, State Secretary of Kingdom Affair Raymond Knops, Head of Dutch Recovery Programme Hans...

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SXM Daily News - 7 Aug 2018
SXM Daily News August 7, 2018

SXM Daily News August 7, 2018

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