TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Landfill FIre Closes Government Buildings

Daily Herald Link

A friend on the island posted a live video on facebook last night. This fire appeared to be much worse than what most have been in the past.

I guess the government employees are more important than the rest of the island residents that have to put up with this??

Not sure how many of you can view the video but here it is. He made it "public" so I am hoping others can see it.

Video

They should be so ashamed

That's sad. They need to get that situation under control.

We are now choking in Cupecoy. Thick smoke and stink. We've had the stink before, but never the smoke. It's a big one.

The dump is near Phillipsburg?

Yes, near the Salt Pond.

Yez it is the Welcoming hill of garbage right behind the Government building.
This morning Philipsburg was engulfed in a tick cloud of poisonous smoke coming from the new dumpsite in Pond Island across from the old one. Most activities in Philipsburg have come to a halt. I am in Maho now and I can smell the smoke from the dump.
No OUR POLITICIANS ARE NOT ASHAMED AT ALL, I HAVE NOT SEEN A SINGLE ONE OF THEM PUTTING THE DUMP AS ONE OF THEIR PRIORITIES ON THEIR AGENDA FOR THeE UPCOMING ELECTIONS.

Yep. Just saw that but had not gotten around to posting yet. Pretty sad state of affairs. Can you imagine first time cruise visitors being greeted with this? WHY would they want to come back if this was their first impression??

There is a live feed from the Daily Heard of Facebook showing the firefighters working on the flames.

Live feed of fire.
https://www.facebook.com/heraldsxm/...eTApPhC0DbZZAQDHaLH8JKLKn-8SOyGHpVYPkqvU

Can’t say I blame the government for going into hiding. They deserve to be lynched, every one of them, for allowing this debacle to continue year after year and the only change being that it gets even worse and goes further downhill.

Edited to add:

It was suggested that my use of the words, “ they should be lynched....” was pretty harsh.

This was said tongue in cheek and I think most who know me would get that, but for those who mistook my meaning, let me restate - the fact the government has permitted this disgusting situation to continue is terrible, and every last one of them should be removed from office. Allowing this to continue year after year only worsening as opposed to improving is near criminal. By failing to correct the problem they have allowed everyone on the island to become a victim to their inactivity at whatever thei dividual costs to each of them..

And besides, Scuba, when push comes to shove, I’m a lover, not a fighter!

"They deserve to be lynched, every one of them"
That's pretty harsh words.

No internet for most of the day either

Update from the Government of Sint Maarten:

** Landfill Fire: No School on Tuesday for Philipsburg Schools. Evacuation of Pond Island Underway. Government Administration Building Remains Closed for a Second Day **

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – Due to the fire at a landfill site on Pond Island, the Prime Minister and members of the Council of Ministers continue to assess the situation and based on discussions Monday evening, a number of decisions have been taken.
The decision was taken to have the following schools in the Philipsburg area to remain closed on Tuesday, February 6: Charlotte Brookson Academy; Oranje School; Genevieve DeWeever School - Cycles 1 & 2; Sister Borgia School; St. Joseph Primary School; and Sundial School. The Minister of Education advises the University of St. Martin to remain closed on Tuesday as a precautionary measure.

A decision was taken to evacuate the residents and persons in the temporary shelters at the Little League Ball Park and the Festival Village to an alternative location. The evacuation of these two temporary shelters is taking place Monday evening.

The Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour is coordinating this evacuation.

Residents that live on Pond Island are strongly advised to evacuate their homes and find alternative shelter with family and/or friends.

The Police and Fire departments will be sending teams through Pond Island residential areas to assess which persons are still in their home, and will encourage them to seek alternative housing.

The Fire Department has indicated during a Monday evening assessment that the fire continues to burn on the landfill. The Ministry of VROMI and the Fire Department have implemented a system of trenching along the perimeter of the fire to prevent further spread of the fire.

Although this method has contained the fire to a certain extent, the massive size of the fire continues to flare up and generate smoke. The Fire Department from the North side of the island continues to render assistance.

The general population is advised to wear nose and mouth mask to avoid the inhalation of the fumes generated from the fire.

In general the Government Building and specific public services will remain closed on Tuesday, February 6; Secretary Generals and Department Heads within the seven ministries were advised to communicate with Civil Servants that are under their management to report to work where necessary and to arrange alternative locations and measures to ensure operations within key services of the Government of Sint Maarten continues.

The Ministry of VSA section Social Services will be available at the Government Administration Building for emergency information for persons living in the Pond Island area.

The Fire Department, continues to advise persons living downwind from the landfill fire, to close windows and doors, especially persons who have a respiratory challenge such as asthma, or shortness of breath; and to pay particular attention to young children and senior citizens.

I understood your statement and knew it was "tongue in cheek".

Today's story link

Three cruise ships reportedly will not dock today because of this mess. Will they FINALLY do something???? Oh they are going to talk about it. Link

Sorry, duplicate post.

Saw the ships coming in this morning. Guess they had a change of heart. Hope THIS wakes up the crooks in office.

I wonder how good a time they will have, with the smoke? How bad is it today?

Heard tourists on Front Street in masks yesterday.
And explosions last night. This is such a bad situation. Criminal.
What about pregnant women, or people with immune disease breathing this toxic crap.
Human and environmental disaster.

Just listened to the Council of Ministers press briefing. Prime Minister says the ships have docked and folks are in town. It's bad.

And now choking us again way over here!

Saw the tourists today riding ATV's with masks on.

Looking at Philipsbug web cam from Holland House and looks like abosolutely clear day.
No smoke.

Because the wind is blowing in a different direction at the moment.

Web cam at airport looks clear also.
Are they getting the fire under control.

No, not under control.

Well, talking usually precedes action.

Actually, in SXM, talking usually precedes more talking...

Especially with elections coming up. All kinds of promises will be made. Actions, not so much.

Probably just about 100% correct.

Is this even being talked about as an issue during the campaign?

Marlin said every government that has sat in the past years has, in one way or the other, worked on finding a solution for the dump, but by the time each responsible Minister gets around to putting something in place, government changes, the plan is scrapped and the process starts all over again.

Daily Herald link <----

Listen to them mumbling

https://www.facebook.com/SXMGOV/videos/958978317606827/

I am going to lock this thread and start a new one so as to hopefully not have duplicate links as there is new information coming out daily and sometimes multiple times a day.

Thanks.