GREAT BAY,– Sint Maarten was represented at the Hands across the Sand event by Executive Director of the Tallahassee-Sint Maarten Foundation (TLH-SXMF) Arthur (Arturo) Lugisse and several Sint Maarten students studying in Tallahassee.The event took place on Saturday 12.00pm, June 26 at the Lake Ella Gazebo in Leon County and it attracted more than 700 people including some of Tallahassee's leading politicians. Some of those present were Representative Rehwinkel Vasilinda, Commissioner At-Large Akin Akinyemi, County Commissioner District 5 Bob Rackleff, and Florida House of Representative Curtis Richardson.
The objective of the event was to bring together Americans and the World to join hands in the largest gathering against offshore oil drilling in history. The image is powerful and the message is simple, NO to Offshore Oil Drilling, YES to Clean Energy.
"I am very pleased that we could take part in this very important event. Our students are a part of the Tallahassee community and we recognize that we should play a role in community efforts that can better the quality of life for all.
"The TLH-SXMF can play a key role as well especially with the sister-sister city relationship that we have developed over the past 10-years. I appeal to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) as well as businesses on the island to get in contact with us with respect to exploring and developing sound sustainable environmental development policies/products/services for Sint Maarten," Executive Director of the TLH-SXMF Arthur Lugisse told the Government Information Service (GIS) on Sunday.
The event brought people together to join hands on beaches and in parks and cities against the dangers offshore oil drilling present to our oceans and marine wildlife, fishing industries and coastal economies.
The mission of Hands across The Sand is to change energy policies away from its dependence on fossil fuels and into the light of clean energy. The aim is to convince leaders of countries and those in particular of the United States to abandon expanded offshore oil drilling and adopt policies that encourage clean and renewable energy sources.
Hands across the Sand was founded by Dave Rauschkolb in October 2009. He organized a statewide gathering on February 13, 2010 where over 10,000 people joined hands on nearly 100 beaches along the entire coastline, to send a message to Florida's legislators and Governor Crist that Floridians did not want them to lift the bans on near and offshore oil drilling in Florida's waters.
Rauschkolb in a media statement says that the Deepwater Horizon disaster currently unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico is a wake-up call.
NGOs and businesses seeking to explore and develop sound sustainable environmental development policies/products/services for Sint Maarten can contact the TLH-SXMF at 850 212 2914 or via its website www.tlh-sxmf.org
