First of all: We wish each and everybody a prosperous New Year! We hope that we can make a new beginning as a community in which we will help each other to reach our goals on an individual level and as a community.
So often we are taking things for granted. One of those things is the "never ending supply" by our Mother Earth to fulfill our needs. We seem to forget that Mother Earth doesn't make plastic bags, glass bottles, batteries, paint etc. On the contrary, these products are severely damaging her. Knowing that is the case, why do we still harm her? And more particular: why do WE allow this to happen on OUR island SINT MAARTEN? On the other hand, Mother Earth is supplying us with her energy from what we call "natural resources". Natural resources are for example: sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves and geothermal heat.
It is good to see that there are several individuals and groups who take it upon themselves to initiate clean ups. Tons of garbage is being gathered by these individuals and groups, trying to eliminate the negative effect of pollution on this island. We applaud these individuals and groups who take their time to clean up after other people. If only everybody had the same mindset as these individuals and groups...After all, it is a PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY to clean up after oneself and not of government or volunteers.
As mentioned before, Mother Earth is also supplying us with (unlimited) energy from natural resources. For years we hear rumors about the burning of garbage from the dump in town, changing it to usable energy for the island. Next to that, we hear about the plans for the BES islands using windmills and wind turbines to generate electricity. We also learnt about tax incentives when purchasing solar panels for either businesses or private homes in the Netherlands.
The three mentioned rumors/examples should be made a reality by our government. Get rid of the dump in town and use our daily garbage to create energy, use windmills and wind turbines to create energy and use tax incentives for businesses and individuals to purchase and use solar panels. If we as citizens also do our part and take our responsibility in cleaning up after ourselves and help keep our island clean, we will continue to be proudly saying that we have a beautiful island. Let's go green in 2013!...#sxmmovement
Soualiga Social Movement