Recently, a commission mandated by the World Bank (which manages the donations granted to Sint Maarten), carried out measurements of toxic fumes resulting from the combustion of waste in the Philipsburg landfill. An article in the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant accuses the government of Sint Maarten of wanting to keep this report secret.
"Officials working on the issue in government received a copy of the outline of this report on October 20," said Leona Marlin, Premier of Sint Maarten, during a press briefing by the Council of Ministers on November 7. "This report is being finalized. It is up to the World Bank, it is not up to us to share it, ”she added.
Emil Lee, Minister of Health, who attended these surveys, wanted to clarify the situation. "There is no doubt that the emissions from the landfill are bad for the health of the inhabitants," he said above all. However, he clarified that the report in question was not intended to study the toxicity of the fumes for the surrounding inhabitants. Its purpose is to determine what precautions will have to be taken by the company that will intervene to extinguish the underground fires that are permanently burning in the landfill, in order to protect its employees. The data collected cannot be used to determine the impact of smoke on the surrounding area. On this point, Leona Marlin assured that discussions were underway on the implementation of a permanent test of air quality whose data would be shared with the population.
(Source: www.soualigapost.com)
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