PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (VROMI), Patrice Gumbs, is pleased to announce the successful outcome of last week's Steering Committee meeting held with the World Bank and donor representative, the Government of the Netherlands. The high-level discussions resulted in the potential securing of additional funding for the expansion of critical infrastructure projects across the island.
The Minister of VROMI emphasized that the meeting, while intensive, was ultimately productive and driven by the shared goal of ensuring the sustainable development of St. Maarten. The Ministry of VROMI currently has two projects under its mandate: the Emergency Debris Management Program (EDMP), the long awaited intervention on the landfill and the related long-term improvements to waste management, and the Sint Maarten Wastewater Project (SWAMP), which will see the connecting of the neighborhoods in the Cul-de-Sac basin to the central waste treatment center on A.T. Illidge Road.
Gumbs underscored the value of the hard work and cooperation by the Ministry, the NRPB, and the World Bank as key to their success stating confidently that “while everyone comes with varying degrees of expertise and backgrounds, it’s the commitment to realizing a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable way of managing the people’s business that ensured and will continue to ensure these projects’ enormous progress”.
Key to the discussions on EDMP and SWAMP was the budgetary allocation and the potential allocation for more resources. Critical to achieving these financial increases is the delivery of project milestones. Regarding EDMP, on September 15, the Design and Build tender for the landfill intervention was launched. Over the coming months, the Ministry will be working to bring a first draft of the new waste ordinance and the waste authority to the Council of Ministers and subsequently to the Parliament for adoption. The new legislation will be supported by a financial framework to support the future of waste, including the introduction of a tipping fee and household contributions to waste collection.
In December, civil servants from VROMI will be trained in operating the weigh-bridge, a tool that will be key in monitoring capacity in the coming years. With the proposed closure of the landfill in 2032, Sint Maarten will need to find solutions for long-term waste management. Minister Gumbs has committed to delivering a preliminary multi-annual plan by December to the Council of Ministers, outlining the path forward for waste management. This will include new streams for processing waste and cooperation with Saint-Martin and the region.
The Minister complemented the steering committee meeting with discussions with Washington, DC Public Works on programs to address food waste. Around 40% of the current waste to the Sint Maarten landfill is organic, a combination of food and greenery waste. The Ministry has already started discussions with the private sector to pilot projects to reuse and harness the value of waste. These initiatives will launch in the coming months.
Regarding SWAMP, the project teams will be working to finalize initial designs and tender, and the project remains very much on track despite the delayed launch in May of this year. Estimated to connect well over 700 homes, the projects will address growing concerns around health and sanitation, and include elements of beautification and community building.
Minister Gumbs, who has since taken office, championed environmentally conscious and sustainable development, calling the projects right for the time and deeply impactful, given the need to reconfigure how we view the country's growth and ensure quality experiences for residents and visitors alike. He stated that while many have been critical of the introduction of fees and the closure of the landfill as a potential trigger for illegal dumping, he noted that the link between illegal dumping and costs on Sint Maarten is weak; it’s already happening with a free and relatively unrestricted landfill. “The focus needs to be placed not on if it’s free or not, but on education and why it’s important to change current practices”. This education will be brought by ‘Think Green’, the campaign to raise awareness and support the transition.
Prime Minister Luc Mercelina and Minister of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sport Melissa Gumbs rounded off the Ministerial delegation, supported by their technical delegations and with the support of the NRPB.
The Minister urged residents to stay engaged, becoming an active part of this transformation, closing out with the project’s motto, “It takes All of Us.
