Philipsburg: --- State Secretary of Health George Pantophlet wants to know who has a building permit for the sanitary landfill (garbage dump) in Philipsburg. Pantophlet said he is not referring to the people that are living next to the dump but instead he is talking about the building permit for the dumpsite.The site is not only expanding but it is also becoming a high rise. The State Secretary for health said very soon people and visitors on St. Maarten would only see garbage and not the homes and businesses that are located on the dump. He said the new administration building in close proximity will be filled with hundreds of civil servants and persons who visit the building seeking information.
Pantophlet said he wants to if the island government or sector health care took the time to see what kind of health risk these civil servants would be exposed to.
Secondly he wants to know what type of garbage is allowed to be dumped at that site. We have had complaints about batteries and other chemicals being dumped at the site in the past. The State Secretary for health said he wants to know what kind of controls is done at the site. The persons now suffering the most from this problem are the ones living on the dump site.
The only benefit they have if you can call it one is that they might not have to pay for garbage collection because it is right next door. They are at risk, they don't have proper housing, running water, water drainage and a sewage system is non existent. It is time to look at the infrastructure at the dump site. A survey has to be carried out giving a figure indicating how many persons are living there. It is time for roads to be paved, proper water drainage, electricity among others. Pantophlet said he thinks it is critical that the hygiene department be provided with the necessary staff and equipment to do regular control. And this brings some questions to mind: Such as when was the last time that the water in the salt pond was tested? What were the results? If outside expertise is needed then this should be acquired providing we don't have it in house. There was a time when you could talk about flu virus seasons but apparently in our out of seasons the flu virus is around. This means climate and environmental changes. The sanitary landfill must be controlled.