Last Saturday, the Sint Maarten Christian Party joined the Sint Maarten Regatta in their Annual Beach Clean-Up of the Kimsha Beach. Together with several youth groups such as the Scouts, the LAB Sports Academy and Learning Unlimited, members of the Sint Maarten Christian Party collected several bags of garbage, especially glass bottles, all types of plastic items and tissue paper. Manager of the Nature Foundation, Tadzio Bervoets, gave a brief explanation about the effects of pollution on our marine life, especially on the turtle population that nests on the various beaches around Sint Maarten. He then provided garbage bags and gloves. Apparently he did not expect so much interest in the beach clean-up because within a very short time the gloves and bags were finished and he had to go to get more. The actual clean up lasted about an hour and a half after which the team with the most garbage was selected. The Sint Maarten Christian Party won the prize for having the heaviest bag of garbage which weighed 30 pounds. The Christian Party felt that the youngsters would be better off with the prize, namely a sunset cruise on the boat the Random Wind.
One of our members of the Sint Maarten Christian Party, who was unable to attend the clean-up, sent an email in which he said: “This is a commendable idea to assist in such a campaign for not only the beautifying of the island, but also the economic impact”. The Sint Maarten Christian Party was pleased to be able to serve Sint Maarten in this way and plans to assist with more of such community events in the future. We believe that together we can make a difference and bring about the change we all desire for Sint Maarten.
Wycliffe Smith
Leader of the Sint Maarten Christian Party