St. Maarten Private Eye

Last week some USM students spoke up with concerns about The Great Salt Pond, one of which was it's status as a National Monument. Sadly, I regret to inform them that the GSP is no longer something to be proud of, it is instead, a National Disgrace. Roy was asked about it last week by an AVS reporter, listen to him, if you can bare to, then join me below for more.

AVS News - Roy talking about garbage - 23rd February 2007

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The Great Salt Pond is the root of St. Maarten's heritage. On October 5th 1624, a Dutch ship stopped here searching for wood to make repairs, this he did not find and sailed on to St. Kitts, the salt ponds had been noticed. In early August 1631 the Dutch returned, St Maarten was to be their first settlement in the Caribbean.

At first the island was thought to be uninhabited, but it was discovered that 14 Frenchmen had settled in the Quarter d'Orleans area. Within 3 months the first house had been built and over 1000 hectolitres of clean salt was ready for shipment. Work started on Fort Amsterday which was finished by September 1632, housing 10 cannons and 80 men. By June of that year, 25 ships were counted within a 3 week period, collectiong salt for the return trip to Europe.

The high quality of St Maarten salt attracted the greed and attention of King Philip IV of Spain and on the 24th June 1633, 53 Spanish ships, 11 of which being Men of War, dropped anchor in Great Bay. 1000 soldiers and 300 sailors landed, the Dutch put up resistance for one week before a truce allowed them to leave the island, St. Maarten became Spanish on July 2nd 1633. By this time the Dutch had settled Bonaire and the loss of St Maarten led to the settlement of Curacao in 1634, St Eustatius and Saba were settled in 1636.

St. Maarten was not settled by Spain, they had too many islands to administer and conditions on the island deteriorated for the 250 man garrison. Seeing this, Peter Syuyvesant, the Director of the Netherlands West India Company was directed to try to retake the island. In 1644 he arrived in Great Bay with 13 ships and about 1000 men, including most of the guard from Curacao, leaving that island poorly defended.

The Spanish garrison of 120 men retreated into the Fort (Ft Amst.) and the Dutch landed in Cay Bay. First they set up cannons on Cay Hill but the distance was too far, they then moved them onto Belair Hill. Stuyvesant sent a summons to the Spanish at the fort and then climbed to the battery position and raised a flag, presumably to indicate the position and to demand surrender. Instead the Spanish fired a cannon, hitting Stuyvesant's right leg and the cheek and eye of the captain of his flagship. A few weeks later and after several attacks were repulsed, the Dutch left the island. The Spanish commander, in his report to the King, requested permission to leave the island as a reward to the garrison.

They left in 1648 and the Dutch from Statia and the French from St Kitts returned, after some skirmishing and spats, they came to an agreement, the Concordia Accord, to share the island. Salt production continued on and off through the next couple of centuries as the island changed hands between the French, Dutch and Engilish from Anguilla. In the 1850's, the canals and embankments that can still be seen in some areas, mainly along the Sucker Garden Road, were constructed, That year, St. Maarten exported over 38,000 metric tons of salt.

The Salt Factory was built in 1862, but the high costs and increased competition from other islands, along with poor maintenance of the ponds and no storage sheds led to the slow decline of the industry. Salt production in the Great Salt Pond ceased in 1949.

Today the ruins shown above are surrounded by industrial business and low standard housing.

More photos here

Then, in the 70's I think, someone had the bright idea to use the pond as a garbage dump and slowly it began to be filled. I will let the pictures tell you the rest of the story and the death of the Great Salt Pond.

Late 1960's....

And today....

This fill, permitted and provided in BBW in a rush by Roy Marlin, he claimed that Govt faced a penalty if land was not provided. This landfill is still unoccupied, 5 months after that 'penalty' date.

SXM Pride Foundation objects to Salt Pond filling - 26th September 2006

Pride concerned about pond water capacity - 27th September 2006

Roy Marlin is useless and incompetant, the sooner he is sent packing out of the Aministration Building doors the better for the island. He has failed to have GEBE start work on an island wide sewerage system, 4 years after it was decided to give them the job instead of his prefered ($$) Intaquin. He has failed to come up with programs or policies to involve the community in waste management, recycling and public education on these issues. His answer for more energy to meet his development program is more heavy oil generators and he declares St. Maarten too small to make any difference to Global Warming, so we are to do nothing.

He has failed to put forward one act of legistlation in his position as Commissioner for the Environment (sic), in fact his obsession with development has made the title a joke. The Marine Park Ordinance is not his idea or plan, but he will most likely try to claim it as such, when it eventually get passed.

The Great Salt Pond is dead, the toxins and chemicals that have been dumped into the middle of it over several decades of totally unregulated dumping along with the shit that gets unloaded by trucks have killed it. The filling going on all around it is the covering of the grave. Some estimates put the filling at being over 50% since the 1950's.

Some people never learn. As with several of the major developments on the island, the next major Hurricane is going to show us all a ting or two.

Hurricane Frederick - 1979

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