Dear Editor,
Sint Maarten has a serious garbage problem. Litter along our roads, illegal dumping, overflowing bins and waste accumulating in our ghauts and coastal areas affect public health, damage the environment and undermine the tourism product on which we so dearly depend. It also affects how we feel about our country and whether basic public services are working.
It was right that garbage received attention during the recent parliamentary budget debate. The motions addressing enforcement, reporting, fines, repeat offenders and community involvement are useful. People who deliberately litter or dump waste should face consequences, and residents and businesses must dispose of their waste properly.
But Parliament and Government must also consider the conditions under which people are expected to meet that responsibility. In many neighbourhoods, it is unclear where household waste should be placed, whether enough bins and collection points are available or when they will be emptied. Some skips are open, overflowing or poorly located. Residents also need practical options for bulky waste, hazardous materials and dead animals. These are basic parts of a functioning waste system.
I recently saw a disturbing photograph of a dead dog placed in a dumpster. It raised a basic question: does Sint Maarten have a reliable and clearly advertised service for collecting dead animals? Can residents reach it after hours or on weekends, and will someone respond? If the service exists but people cannot find or depend on it, we should not be surprised when they use the nearest dumpster.
Open dumpsters and skips also allow waste to escape without anyone deliberately littering. Wind blows plastic, paper and other waste into streets, yards, hillsides and the sea. Heavy rain washes garbage into drains and ghauts, contributing to blockages and flooding before carrying it to our beaches and coastal waters. By then it is harder and more expensive to remove and poses risks to wildlife, fisheries and public health. Covered, properly located and regularly serviced skips would prevent much of this waste from escaping.
It is also time for Sint Maarten to move forward with a ban on single-use plastics. Plastic bags, foam food containers, straws and disposable cutlery are easily blown from open bins and frequently end up in drains, ghauts and the sea. A 2025 Caribbean Policy Research Institute review found that bans in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and Jamaica reduced the most visible sources of plastic waste. Plastic bags in Jamaica fell from 13 per cent of waste recorded through coastal cleanups in 2018 to six per cent in 2021. In Barbados, plastics declined from 12 per cent of municipal waste in 2015 to three per cent in 2021. A ban must be properly enforced and monitored, but removing these products from circulation means fewer are available to become litter.
I am a pragmatist, and my years in the environmental field have shown me that people generally choose the path of least resistance. Most will use the option that is easiest, closest and cheapest. If that is a nearby, covered and regularly emptied waste point, most people will use it. If legal disposal is unclear, inconvenient, full or unreliable, illegal disposal becomes more likely.
That does not excuse someone who dumps a truckload of waste on a quiet road or throws a bottle from a car when a bin is available. Those cases deserve enforcement, but fines cannot replace accessible facilities, dependable collection and clear information.
It always bothers me when the discussion stops at blaming “the people,” because that shifts attention away from the waste system itself. Has Government provided enough infrastructure? Are collection contracts properly supervised? Do contractors have the required staff and equipment? Are missed collections corrected? Does the public know what services are available? Shared responsibility cannot mean asking residents to improve while leaving these questions unanswered.
Every district should have clearly identified and adequately sized waste facilities. Skips should be covered and located with drainage, flooding, road access and the number of households in mind. Collection schedules should be public and consistent. Residents need one simple way to report overflowing bins, missed pickups, illegal dumping, dead animals and bulky waste, with reports logged and followed through. Government should publish service standards so the public can see whether contractors meet them.
Accountability must cover everyone involved. Residents should answer for littering and dumping, businesses for improper disposal, contractors for inadequate service, and Government for poor planning and weak supervision. Repeat and commercial-scale offenders should be dealt with firmly where proper disposal options were available and deliberately ignored.
The parliamentary motions can help if they lead to consistent enforcement and better public reporting. This and future budgets must also fund the work that makes compliance possible: neighbourhood disposal points, covered containers, dependable collection, specialised services, monitoring and maintenance. Otherwise, we will keep cleaning the same locations and blaming the same people while the underlying problems remain.
The public has to do its part, but Government must make proper waste disposal the easiest and most reliable option. That is what shared responsibility should mean in practice.
Tadzio Bervoets
