St. Maarten Private Eye

I cannot believe the pictures Flipper, The dawn beach culvert that runs right into the dawn beach, beach sand is polluted like the Zagersgut channel. This act by the hotel is a blatent act of pollution to the beach and ocean environment. For a hotel to remove a natural pond with the backing of the EXCO and the VROM environmental department is a crime.

This pond acted as a natural filtering water body that was part of the old Dawn Beach hotel, the previous hotel was built around the pond, the WESTIN hotel built by Columbia Sussex removes the pond and builds an artificial detention 'hole' back up the valley where sewage water is entering and it runs down unto the beach. The pictures clearly show green algae in the water coming from the culvert.

it goes to show that whatever developers want, they get. WE DO NOT HAVE a government environmental department. How else to explain this culvert?
In other countries, people would have been fired, Commissioners would have been asked to resign for approving something of this nature where the environment clearly is polluted every day because of this culvert.

And to think that this hotel was the host of the recently concluded SMART trade show, our Lt. Governor made some nice empty speeches about the environment, had the lt. Governot taken the time to visit the beach and listen to the constant noise from the environmental group about this project, he would not have written a speech mentioning good environmental practices.

The location where he gave the speech is a clear example of very bad environmental practices, a culvert that runs dirty water into the beach, a generator that produces noise 24/7, a sewage plant that produces foul smells, and noise 24/7, residents that have lost their peace and quiet A coral reef that has been lost due to the pumping of the ponds silt bottom into the ocean.
What more can be said?

Jadira