St. Maarten Pride Foundation has paid close attention to Commissioner Frans Richardson’s recent announcements of plans for a Drag racing strip and a Cricket Stadium, plans which require the filling-in of the Great Salt Pond to accommodate the facilities.
The Foundation strongly advises against and objects to these and any future plans which involve the further destruction of the Great Salt Pond and St. Maarten’s other remaining wetlands.
Filling-in the Great Salt Pond for these facilities will lead to an additional reduction of the pond’s already limited water retention capacity and will have drastic consequences for the surrounding areas in times of rain and during Hurricanes as excess run-off water will cause flooding of the already overburdened districts adjacent to the pond.
In the days since the Commissioner’s announcement many residents of the Over the pond, A. Th. Illidge Road, Madame Estate and Sucker Garden neighbourhoods have contacted St. Maarten Pride Foundation to express concerns about increased noise pollution in their district should the proposed plans be executed.
The Commissioner’s plans, particularly those for the Cricket Stadium will also destroy a large portion of the same area of the Great Salt Pond that Government only recently identified and designated as a monument (BC# 1172-08). In establishing the Great Salt Pans area of the Great Salt Pond as a monument the Executive Council of the Island Territory of St. Maarten acknowledged the cultural/historical significance of the area and committed to protecting it.
BirdLife International (de Vogelbescherming) recently recognized the Great Salt Pond as one of the Caribbean’s "Important Bird Areas (IBA)". IBAs are places of the highest global priority for bird and biodiversity conservation.
"Great Salt Pond IBA is in south-central St. Maarten, on the outskirts of the capital Philipsburg….This IBA is significant for its population of Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla). Up to 5.800 gulls congregate at the IBA prior to the breeding season. About 50 pairs of Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) breed …. within the IBA."
(St. Maarten, Important Bird Areas In the Caribbean, Key sites for conservation, BirdLife International, 2008)
St. Maarten Pride Foundation believes Government should be planning for increased water storage capacity rather than filling-in the Great Salt Pond. It would furthermore set a dangerous precedent if Government were to destroy an area which was only just identified and designated as a monument based on its cultural/ historical significance and recently internationally recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA).
St. Maarten Pride Foundation