Philipsburg: --- St. Maarten Pride Foundation has taken notice of Government’s correspondence and propaganda regarding the Ring road project printed in a local newspaper on Thursday July 9th, 2009.
The article states that “The ring road along the edge of the Great Salt Pond that will be built in the coming months is seen by government as a major step in ending traffic congestion and protecting what remains of Great Salt Pond”. This statement in itself is contradictory; why would government first have to destroy a large part of the Great Salt Pond by filling it up in order to facilitate “protecting what remains of Great Salt Pond”?
The Great Salt Pond can easily be protected through the implementation and enforcement of Zoning Plans as described in The Island Zoning Ordinance (Eilandsverordening ruimtelijke ontwikkelingsplanning St. Maarten EROP, 1993). This ordinance enables government to restrict, forbid and/ or penalize the alteration of landscapes or water ways, the filling in of bodies of water (ponds, lagoons) and the destruction of vegetation through setting requirements in the planning permit procedure for building activities (Article 12 and 13). Based on these provisions the zoning ordinance (Eilandsverordening ruimtelijke ontwikkelingsplanning St. Maarten EROP, 1993) is considered to be the island’s most significant legal instrument for landuse planning.
Government has acknowledged its responsibility to develop zoning plans in its Multi Annual Policy Plan (MAPP), and other Policy Plans and studies but until now has only completed a zoning plan for the Fort Amsterdam Area.
Government’s claim that the ring road is seen “as a major step in ending traffic congestion” is questionable and misleading at best considering that no comprehensive traffic or road network study for St. Maarten has been carried out within the last fifteen to twenty years despite the tremendous growth the island has faced during this period. There is therefore no certainty that the Ring Road will ease traffic congestion in the long-term.
In addition Government has not taken any measures regarding the comparatively more cost-effective proposals aimed at alleviating traffic congestion in the long-term including proposals listed in the Multi Annual Policy Plan, The Tourism Master Plan and the Carrying Capacity Study even though these recommendations or studies may very well dispel or void Government’s perceived need for the Ring Road project.
The article claims that “the road has been endorsed by several studies compiled with input from the public and from environmental groups”. “One such study was the Development Perspective for Philipsburg and Surroundings”.
This paragraph seems to insinuate that St. Maarten Pride Foundation approved of or recommended the construction of the ring road during the information session held with TKA and the Almere group in 2003, this insinuation is entirely false and misleading. The development perspective itself contradicts the implication on page 11 of the document; The following stakeholders have been consulted about the development vision described in this report. Their wishes have been noted by TKA, and as far as possible taken into account during the formulation of this Development Vision. Development perspective St. Maarten Philipsburg Greater Great Bay Area” (TKA, Architecture & Urban Design, 2003)
Furthermore the Development perspective St. Maarten Philipsburg Greater Great Bay Area (TKA, Architecture & Urban Design, 2003) is half a decade old and much has changed on St. Maarten in general and in and around the Great Salt Pond in particular over the past 5 years. Government has for instance allowed a great deal of filling in of the pond contrary to recommendations in the development perspective making the drawings and proposed location of the ring road unrealistic.
The letter sent to EPIC and St. Maarten Pride was not “signed by Executive Council Chairman Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards” as the article claims, but by the Lt. Governor’s substitute, Acting Lt. Governor Millicent de Weever.
The statement that the “Perspective had been approved by the Island Council on October 13th, 2003” is irrelevant and misleading as the “Development perspective St. Maarten Philipsburg Greater Great Bay Area” is just a perspective, vision or a view point and has no legal standing within the EROP (Eilandsverordening ruimtelijke ontwikkelingsplanning St. Maarten EROP, 1993) as it is not an “ontwikkelingsplan” or zoning plan as described in article 3 of the EROP the development perspective is therefore just an idea which can be changed and is not legally binding.
The Foundations’ objections regarding the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) carried out by Lievense Consulting Engineers are not properly addressed in the Executive Council’s correspondence or in Thursday’s article in a local Newspaper. The Foundations have reviewed the abovementioned EIA and are of the opinion that the research and analysis conducted for the document is of poor quality, incomplete at best and does not meet commonly used Dutch or international standards/ formats for Environmental Impact Assessments.
Lievense is involved in many of Government’s infrastructural projects and designed the plans for the Ring road. St. Maarten Pride and EPIC therefore question the objectivity of this Environmental Impact Assessment. The principles of good governance, ethics and logic dictates that it is a conflict of interest for a company which has designed a particular project (in this case it concerns Lievense and the Ring road) to be tasked with compiling an objective Environmental Impact Assessment of this same project, especially in countries such as St. Maarten which have not yet adopted International criteria for these assessments and/or established independent commissions to guide and review the process.
Government’s letter and the aforementioned article do not respond to the Foundation’s concerns regarding the Cultural/ Historical value of the Great Salt Pond and the monument status of the Great Salt Pans.
The Great Salt Pond, played a prominent role in both Sint Maarten’s and the Kingdom of the Netherlands’ history due to its immense size and its central location, particularly in the wide scale Salt mining industry which started with the Dutch around 1631. Salt was collected from the Great Salt Pond and subsequently exported all over the world or locally used to conserve food. The last commercially significant salt reaping occurred in the 1940’s. Many Sint Maarteners are descendants of people who worked in the Great Salt Pond during and after slavery, a fact which makes the Pond an important aspect of the island’s and the Kingdom’s heritage.
The eastern side of the Great Salt Pond, an area called the Great Salt Pans (Grote zout-vlaktes/ pannen), has recently been identified and designated by the Executive Council of the Island Territory of St. Maarten as a monument (BC# 1172-08).; in doing so, government acknowledged the cultural/historical significance of the area and committed to protecting it.
The construction of the Ring road/ link 3, as it is currently proposed, will destroy a large portion of the same area of the Great Salt Pond that Government only recently identified and designated as a monument (BC# 1172-08). The proposed plans will therefore demolish significant and rare physical evidence of our ancestors’ strenuous labour and St. Maarten’s history through the destruction of many of the few remaining rock walls and salt pans (Zout-vlaktes/ pannen), in particularly the eastern section of the pond. The removal of these historical artifacts would deprive St. Maarten of an important aspect of the island’s cultural identity. The Foundations are of the opinion that an undesirable precedent would be set if Government destroys large portions of an area which that same Government only just identified and designated as a monument based on its cultural/ historical significance.
It must be reiterated that St. Maarten Pride and EPIC are in full favor of the development and implementation of sustainable solutions to St. Maarten’s traffic congestion challenges. However, increasing road network capacity, by building a ring-road in the Great Salt Pond is not an effective long-term solution for St. Maarten’s traffic related challenges.
(St. Maarten Pride Foundation).