French Quarter, St. Martin:--- The public is invited to celebrate the launch of two new nature books produced by the Les Fruits de Mer association! The free launch event will be held from 9 am to noon this Saturday, May 4th, at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House. The two new books are the latest in the popular Soualikids children’s series, Soualikids Creatures and Soualkids Creatures Coloring Book. They showcase this island’s insects and other little creatures. These two books will be given away for free at the event, featuring a coloring station. The author and photographer will be present for a book signing.

The Les Fruits de Mer association developed the Soualikids series based on requests from St. Martin educators and parents for materials about this island for toddlers and preschool kids. Each book in the series is a quadrilingual word book in four languages spoken here: English, French, Spanish, and Dutch. The goal of the series is to highlight St. Martin's nature, culture, and heritage to help little kids build early word skills about the special place where they live.

“The series is called ‘Soualikids’ because it was created for the kids of St. Martin, and Soualiga is one of the Amerindian names for this island,” explained author Jenn Yerkes. “The nature books in this series are designed in pairs: a first book with wildlife photos and a second companion book with fun coloring pages of the same wildlife. We’re thrilled to launch this third pair of books, which stars the incredible insects and other little critters that kids can see here on St. Martin!”

Soualikids Creatures is a “look and learn” picture book with colorful photos of captivating local creatures. The companion Soualikids Creatures Coloring Book is a “color and learn” book with two fun coloring pages for each of the creatures. It also has a visual guide on the back cover with vivid photos of all the featured creatures. Both books include creature names in all four languages.

“Adults can share these books with little kids to help them build their vocabulary and discover the cool creatures on their own island!” said Mark Yokoyama, co-founder of the Les Fruits de Mer association. “We’ll be giving free printed copies of these books to local preschools as part of Les Fruits de Mer’s 2024 book giveaway program. And more Soualikid books are on the way that spotlight island nature, art, and culture!”

Thanks to event sponsor Delta Petroleum, the free launch event and book giveaway will be held at Amuseum Naturalis on Saturday, May 4th, from 9 a.m. to noon. Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House is a free museum of nature and heritage located in the French Quarter, St. Martin. It is open every day from sunrise to sunset.

Both new books are also available for free download from http://lesfruitsdemer.com and for purchase on amazon.com worldwide. Teachers and youth group leaders interested in copies are encouraged to contact Les Fruits de Mer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Companies, organizations or individuals interested in sponsoring copies for schools are also encouraged to contact the association.

Les Fruits de Mer’s 2024 book giveaway program is supported by the Politique de la ville de Saint-Martin, implemented by the State and the Collectivité de Saint-Martin, the Vie Associative service of Saint-Martin, and the Cité Éducative de Saint-Martin. Soualikids Creatures and Soualikids Creatures Coloring Book were produced with support from the Collectivité de Saint-Martin and the Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires.

PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- The Collective Prevention Services (CPS), urges the population, especially adults, parents, and guardians to be aware that exposure to loud music can cause hearing damage, especially in young children, and as such it is important to protect them from loud pitches, tones and in general overly loud music.

Avoid these as much as possible and avoid standing in close proximity of speakers of sound trucks.

Noise, like all sounds, is measured by the intensity and frequency of the sound waves that hit the ear. The unit used to measure the volume of sound is the decibel (dB). The greater the number of decibels, the louder the noise and the more harmful it is to the ears.

Environmental noise exposure, such as road traffic, aircraft and/or sudden high-level noise, is associated with a range of health outcomes in children.

Children demonstrate annoyance responses to noise, and noise is also related to lower well-being and stress responses, such as increased levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline.

Prolonged exposure can result in damage, which can be irreversible, and parents and guardians are being advised to pay attention to this during the Carnival parade.

Hearing loss may be mild, moderate, severe, or profound. It can affect one ear or both ears and leads to difficulty in hearing conversational speech or loud sounds.

CPS advises parents to monitor their children during Carnival activities that they don’t stand near speakers with loud music as this could be damaging to the child’s ear.

Take the following steps to minimize the risks and protect your child from the physical and psychological effects of noise: Ensure that he or she wears child-sized hearing protection, such as earplugs or earmuffs, during noisy activities and events. Limit the amount of time spent on noisy activities.

Instruct him or her to walk away from sources of loud noises. Have your child’s hearing tested if he/she routinely participates in noisy activities, such as playing an instrument or attending musical activities or sporting events.

For more information call CPS at 542-1122, 542-1222, 542-1322 and 542-1570; or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

PHILIPSBURG:--- On April 16th and 17th, a delegation from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management visited Saba. The delegation was headed by the Director General for Environment and International Affairs at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (I&W), Afke van Rijn, with her team, Sebe Buitenkamp and Milton Horn.
Their visit began with a tour of the solar park, accompanied by Governor Jonathan Johnson and Island Secretary Bram Streppel. They were hosted by Managing Director of Saba Electric, Mark Zagers, who expressed his thanks to various Ministries and funding agencies for assisting with the building of the solar park. He also described the challenges faced such as the rising cost of fuel and equipment.
A visit to the Hell’s Gate Guts followed as Governor Johnson explained various issues surrounding this area such as illegal dumping of garbage and erosion.
On the 17th of April, at Saba Splash, the delegation was welcomed by Oscar Vander Kaap who gave a tour of the facility. He explained the process of how the water is filtered, the addition of the minerals in accordance with Dutch law, and the bottling process. He stated that testing on St. Maarten continues for each batch and indicated that while 60% of the population uses Saba Splash, there is still capacity to grow, with hopes for further reducing the cost.
Following this, a meeting was held between the delegation and Department Heads of Waste Management, Policy and Project Bureau, and Infrastructural and Spatial Development. One of the main discussion points was clarity on the upcoming implementation of the IAB BES and how the Ministry of IenW, along with the Inspectorate for Human Environment and Transport (ILT), would work with PES in actualizing this goal. The delegation team also acknowledged the unique situation on Saba which must be considered.
In the afternoon, the delegation joined Zelda Meeuwsen, Head of Infrastructural & Spatial Development, Courtney Hassell, Policy Advisor, and Mark Zagers at Fort Bay. Meeuwsen showed the location for the new Black Rocks Harbor and shared the plans and timeline for construction, while Zagers presented the potential location of the new solar park. Zagers shared his concerns about drainage and runoff into the ocean as there is growing environmental concern. Hassell reiterated this, citing the decline in coral from around thirty percent coverage in the 1990s to just eight percent now, which encourages Saba to work more towards protecting the environment when making strides to becoming more self-sufficient.
The delegation then visited the waste management facility. Waste Management Department Head Roxanne Simmons explained the process of exporting waste and the changes that have been made since the beginning of the year. She also expressed the challenge related to community involvement, as efforts are still being made to encourage people to dispose of their waste responsibly via the correct bins.
During their last stop at the Saba Research Center, Alwin Hylkema shared information on various projects such as the Diadema-Sea urchin research which focuses on restoring the coral reefs around Saba.
The delegation left on April 17th with the Makana ferry, going onward to Sint Eustatius.