Dear Editor,
We have only one Sint Maarten/Saint Martin. Often we take things for granted in life. One of those things is our island Sint Maarten/Saint Martin. The two parts of the island share a unique history and we have archeological sites, monuments and culture to show for it. Besides the unique history that Sint Maarten/Saint Martin has, we can say that we have beautiful coastal waters and beaches and a beautiful flora and fauna in general. However, archeological sites and monuments are being destroyed, our culture seems to be no longer predominant in our society and in the name of development we are destroying wildlife on Sint Maarten/Saint Martin.
Of course, we expect government to come up with policies to promote and protect Sint Maarten/Saint Martin's history and culture and we expect government to protect certain wildlife areas. But should we as people leave it all in the hands of government? Don't we have responsibilities? What do we do to keep the Sint Maarten/Saint Martin culture alive? What do we do to teach our children about the history of the Land of Salt? What do we do to protect our environment?
There are roughly seventy-five thousand people registered to be living on both sides of the island (exact numbers of illegal residents is unknown) and we have over two million people per year visiting our island. Every resident and visitor produces waste in the form of garbage. Government's intention to establish a waste-management facility is without a doubt a great and much needed initiative, but it is not enough.
We need to make sure that littering is limited or better yet: littering should not be accepted at all. We need to be conscious about the products we use and dispose of. The damage that has been and continues to be done by aluminum (cans) and plastic (wrapping materials and bags) to our environment is tremendous, not to mention the oil waste and many car wrecks on the island. It's high time that we stand up and take responsibility for our island. We need to be more involved in preserving our history and culture and we simply have to take care of our environment! We can no longer take Sint Maarten/Saint Martin for granted. After all, we have only one Soualiga. What will be gone will not come back. #sxmmovement
Soualiga Social Movement
