Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG--Environmentalist Rueben Thompson has sounded the alarm about the devastating effects that can occur if government continues to ignore recommendations to protect the island against flooding during torrential downpours.
"Unless Government shapes up St. Maarten will not be prepared," Thompson said on Sunday. His statements were made on the heels of widespread flooding in the country over the weekend after torrential rains on Friday and early Saturday.
"The question is not if we will ever have another hurricane such as Luis or Lenny or if we will have another cloudburst; it is simply a matter of when. Hold your elected and appointed officials accountable for their (in)actions or we will all suffer the consequences," Thompson said.
He said as an environmentalist he had "repeatedly warned" government not to fill in or allow the filling-in of the country's ponds as this would reduce their water catchment/retention capacities.
"I have advised government to maintain man-made gutters and disallow building in natural gutters. Government-commissioned reports by international experts often echoed my advice and recommended that government expands the island's water-catchment basins. All this advice fell on deaf ears – take the Pondfill parking areas, the Ring Road and the extension of the Foga housing development, for example," Thompson said.
"All of our natural means of mitigating the consequences of extreme weather are being systematically destroyed. Government believes that the pumps at Great Salt Pond will prevent flooding of the greater Philipsburg area – obviously this is not the case. Climate change and the associated change in weather patterns are a reality."
Thompson said the recent Hurricane Gonzalo and the recent heavy rains are a warning and a reminder of the country's vulnerability.
He said his heart went out to the persons dealing with flooding of their properties and other consequences of the heavy rains over the weekend.
