Meyers calls for tourism to bear more waste-management costs

Member of Parliament Franklin Meyers called for government to reconsider how Sint Maarten funds garbage collection and waste management during a parliamentary meeting with Minister of VROMI Patrice Gumbs on Tuesday 20 October.

Meyers said government budgets primarily around an estimated resident population of 40,000, while about two million visitors a year also create waste that must be collected, transported and disposed of. He said the tourism sector should contribute more directly to those costs.

Meyers did not propose a specific fee or financing mechanism. He said government should examine whether the cost of tourism-related waste, including landfill operations, is properly reflected in the existing arrangements.

He also asked Gumbs to clarify the cause of a recent wastewater overflow at the treatment plant on Illidge Road. Meyers asked whether it was an operational or technical problem, whether similar overflows had happened before, and whether routine maintenance was affected after the previous management agreement ended.

Gumbs had earlier told Parliament that the plant's management agreement ended in August 2026 and was not renewed. The Ministry of VROMI then took responsibility for the facility's daily operations while preparing a new management arrangement.