St. Maarten Private Eye

(Via email from anonymous)

Saturday I read an article that the owner of a hotel near the pondfill had chopped off some trees because of all the midges. I was shocked.
I would love to tell every one not to start chopping their trees. I think that, because of us humans messing with nature, we have these midges to begin with.
Chopping trees might as well worsen the problem. Nobody knows yet, the investigation just started. They might want to import birds and fish to eat the midges and their larvae but then again the birds need trees. It would have been nice if we had mangroves there as well for the birds and the fish to live in. But there are fewer and fewer trees left for the birds to live in so they move to other (better) locations. People would do the same when there is nothing left to enjoy or live from with only concrete buildings. Maybe chopping all the trees at Dawn Beach, Red Pond and other places have created the midge problem because so many birds have migrated and left their prey, the midges, to get out of control. It is just a thought.