PHILIPSBURG – In a reaction to accusations made by the contractor who manages the dump, hinting that the UP party is responsible for creating fires there, Member of Parliament (MP) Frankie Meyers stated: “It is unbelievable that when a National Alliance supporter/former candidate wins the bid for a multi-million dollar contract and manages to mess it up, the contractor still finds ways to accuse the UP party of setting the dump ablaze. This unprofessional approach and reaction without any self-reflection will not lead to improvements, but only to further deterioration of the health hazards created by the ever ongoing dump fires that seemingly can’t be controlled.”
“If it wasn’t such a sad situation it would be laughable that now even the board of the National Alliance wants to defend any inaction by its leadership,” MP Meyers continued. “Or maybe they are simply not aware that to date we have had an undeniable record breaking 19 fires at the dump so far, each of them costing the St. Maarten taxpayer NAf. 148,500. You do the math.
Would the National Alliance board prefer that I stay mute on the subject of the landfill fires? Would they also prefer that in any matters pertaining to the general wellbeing of the public, that I remain silent?”
“There are lots of reasons for concern when we look at the huge amounts that are involved in containing these fires at the dump. Let it be known that any amount to be spent over NAf. 150,000 needs to go to the Governor for approval, yet conveniently all the time these fires are costing the taxpayer just a few guilders below that critical amount of NAf. 150,000,” Meyers stated.
“I just want people to know that besides the extremely toxic smoke that people can see coming from the dump, they can also see their hard earned money go up in smoke. Remember the next time you see a dump fire, there goes another NAf 148,500,” Meyers emphasized.
MP Meyers also acknowledged that dump fires are not something that is new, “but the frequency of these fires is what causes my concern as an elected representative of the People of St. Maarten. So to suggest that the fires are being started by the United People’s party to help the contractor earn more money while jeopardizing the health of the People of St. Maarten, for political mileage, is nothing short of ridiculous.”
