Fire on Mount Dump confirms urgent Action needed.

The smoking furnace once again flares up spraying toxic smoke over the Island just ahead of the arrival of the prime minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte and State Secretary for Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops who are here on a working visit.

The Dutch State Secretary for Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Mr. Raymond Knops after his meeting with the Kingdom Council of Ministers, has said that the land fill (dump) is a top priority for him during the reconstruction faze of the Island after Hurricane Irma. According to the State Secretary, the situation is unsafe for the people of the Island. He pointed out that after 30 years there has been no solution and the matter is just getting worst. Besides that it’s a shame and an unwelcoming site for tourist.

Knops, is not the first Dutch authority to talk this way about the dump; Her Majesty Queen Beatrix upon one of her last visit to the Island as Queen, made reference to an opportunity that we had to address the land fill issue and we did nothing. Now the subject is raised again by a Dutch official who seem committed to making this his project in the reconstruction phase after Irma.  In addressing the matter Knops plans to broaden the scope of the solution by involving the French counterpart and the World Bank. This could mean we have lost the opportunity to fix this problem ourselves and will have no part in what solution is arrived at.

In the meantime the citizens of the Island will have to continue enduring the risk of slow poisoning when inhaling the toxic air as a result of these continuous fires that breaks out on the land fill from time to time.
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