The Community of Saint-Martin, under the leadership of the 2nd VP Bernadette Davis, mobilized to fight against sargassum seaweed strandings.
On June 29 and 30, the east coast of Saint-Martin was once again impacted by the first massive strandings of sargassum seaweed. The end of June saw other strandings hit our shores. Since this date, the Community has launched its new public market for the collection and disposal of sargassum seaweed, in force since July 1. The Community's service providers, notified as part of this contract, are mobilized 7/7 to assume their responsibilities as quickly as possible, thus avoiding serious consequences in terms of public health and environmental impact. If certain nuisances persist, this significant mobilization now allows us to consider that the risks are under control and that the majority of sargassum washed up on the coast has been evacuated from each of the sites, using appropriate methods.
Agreement and financing
The executive council also authorized the signing of a State/COM agreement as part of the fight against sargassum algae. The Collectivity of Saint-Martin thus wishes to request BOP 123 from the Ministry of Overseas Territories for €170.000, i.e. 100% of the financing needs necessary to secure economic activity in Cul-de-Sac Bay while guiding the flow of algae to a reduced collection point, and reduce the volumes of sargassum entering the fish pond.
The Collectivity of Saint-Martin would like to thank the service providers for the quality of their action, their responsiveness and their involvement, as well as the company VERDE SXM which agreed to maintain the site of the non-hazardous waste storage facility (ISDND) in Grandes Cayes operational beyond usual hours to allow the continuous flow of algae to be evacuated, and finally, local residents and the Anti-Sargassum Collective, aware of the strong mobilization of the Community.
No comments