Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
FOGA/ PHILIPSBURG--Residents of Pendent Cactus Road in Foga were among those heavily affected by flooding following the recent storm, having experienced knee-height water. Not an uncommon occurrence, they are concerned that they have been, and will continue to be even more affected because of the filling of land nearby on the pond-side which is set to accommodate another 36 houses.
Many residents and businesses near the ponds in Philipsburg have been affected, and have also questioned the maintenance of the floodgates and pumps. Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Maurice Lake said in an invited comment that there had been problems experienced, repairs to the system are underway and the Great Salt Pond would be back to acceptable levels within a few days.
One Foga resident contacted Environmentalist Rueben Thompson and The Daily Herald out of concern. Another business owner near Zagersgut shared similar concerns.
Besides the filling in of land, the concrete gutter running behind the Foga residences, as well as the dirt gutter made as a back-up during construction, proved futile in channelling and containing the water. A wall built to protect the area from water was almost submerged, and a sewage tank is to-date overflowing into yards and the street, adding another hazardous element to the site already teeming with mosquitoes.
She is calling on Government and in particular VROMI to stop filling in the pond and to take care of the existing houses before new ones are built, particularly by elevating the housing lots above street level. A reporter of this newspaper observed that some housing lots are not just at street level, but in many spots under it, currently pooling stagnant water.
Sick of experiencing flooding, the resident who is in her senior years, was less affected than many neighbours because she took it upon herself to raise her lot above street level by adding sand. She has advised others to do the same but is calling on the Government for help.
She said management at the St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF) is relatively new and does not know as well as the residents what is going on, and is also seemingly not inclined to listen to their concerns. In the area for over 15 years, the resident experienced multiple incidents of flooding.
She expressed that the community should show more of a united front in order to stand up for its rights. "We cannot live like this, we are suffering here," she said. She feels the government is showing that they do not care for the residents, as no official has come by to check on them, although she added that the SMHDF passed by sometime after the recent rains to see if residents could stay in their homes or had somewhere else to go.
The business owner near Zagersgut told of the frustration of dealing with so many flooding events in a short period, as well as disbelief that maintenance of the floodgates and water pumps has been so poor over the years, with inadequate repairs.
The person said that floodgates on the Fresh Pond side in particular had not been repaired properly since 2008 after the passing of hurricane Omar. Although temporary measures were taken such as the placement of sand, the person expressed that there would have surely been enough time to plan proper repairs into the budget.
Thompson has been especially vocal about his repeated warnings of filling in the island's ponds and thereby reducing their water catchment and retention capacities, especially in the wake of recent weather conditions and subsequent flooding.
In an article issued in yesterday's edition of The Daily Herald, Thompson mentioned the extension of the Foga housing development in particular as an example of his advice ¬– echoed in government-commissioned international expert reports – being ignored. He also told this newspaper that the channels have been built too close to these homes.
In an invited comment, Minister Lake said the water pump near Suckergarden has damaged inner seals and liner that need to be replaced, and that needed parts are not currently available, but are expected to be received within a week. Two more pumps are currently operational and working non-stop. One of these had been damaged and parts for it had been ordered over a month ago by a United States manufacturer – this pump became operational again yesterday, he said.
Concerning the floodgates, Minister Lake said that 14 prefabricated elements for the water-passage will be placed within a few weeks. A floodgate has been ordered from the Netherlands and will hopefully arrive in January, when it can be installed. This will take a few weeks to finalise.
After the Great Salt Pond levels normalise in a few days, the Minister says that the Fresh Pond overflow into the Salt Pond would be closed off with sand, as the old floodgates "have been damaged beyond any form of repair."
