St. Maarten Pride Foundation and EPIC welcome Government’s recently announced alteration to the Ring road project. The alteration to the original plan as announced by Commissioner Heyliger is based on recommendations by the Foundations.
The change includes the designation of the Soualiga road, which runs through Pond Island, as the proposed Ring road’s eastern border as an alternative to the previously planned filling-in and destruction of the Great Salt Pans monument.
The aforementioned change is an extremely significant milestone and victory, not just for the Foundations but for current and future generations of St. Maarteners everywhere. The Foundations congratulate Government on taking this important decision and call for the urgent implementation of a Zoning Plan for the Great Salt Pond to prevent future illegal filling and ensure the protection of the Great Salt Pans monument and internationally recognized Important Bird Area (IBA).
In principle St. Maarten Pride Foundation and EPIC continue to be against the entire Ring road project based on a number of previously publicized concerns.
The Foundations are, for instance, still very much concerned about the consequences the Ring road project will have on the water retention capacity of the Great Salt Pond. Pride and EPIC are not convinced by Mr. Kurt Ruan’s, of the New Works and Projects Department, recently published statement “that the holding capacity of the Great Salt Pond will remain at its optimal level”.
The study Government often refers to when mentioning the required water storage capacity of the Great Salt Pond (109 ha (hectare)) was carried out in 1996 (Grabowsky & Poort study) and is therefore outdated and not based on the current rate of construction or the state of St. Maarten’s infrastructure.
The removal of vegetation on the Great Salt Pond’s surrounding hillsides and in valleys for the building of homes, businesses etc. or the construction of roads continues to reduce the water retention capacity of these areas and therefore channels increasingly large volumes of water to the Fresh Pond and the Great Salt Pond. The influx of rainwater into the Fresh Pond and the Great Salt Pond over the past few years has consequently increased at a rapid rate. Recent flooding has highlighted the fact that the abovementioned activities combined with large scale land reclamation has significantly reduced the Pond’s water retention capacity. The building of the Ring road, is therefore likely to lead to serious flooding of the Sucker Garden, Illidge Road, Zagers Gut and Greater Philipsburg Area.
Considering the aforementioned St. Maarten Pride Foundation and EPIC believe Government should be planning for increased water storage capacity rather than further reducing the Great Salt Pond’s present water storage capacity.
