EIS for Ring Road Great Salt Pond, St. Maarten

The capacity of the road infrastructure of St. Maarten is not sufficiently tuned to the building developments, the related growth in population, increasing tourist numbers and the port expansion. The proposed ring road around the Great Salt Pond, is one of road infrastructure improvements for the Greater Philipsburg Area.

The main function of the Great Salt Pond is to buffer rainwater. The surface area of the Great Salt Pond is continuously decreasing due to (illegal) reclamation of land which reduces the storage capacity of the Pond and increasingly results in flooding risks of Philipsburg. The proposed construction of the ring road along the banks of the Great Salt Pond will create a fixed and physical boundary between surrounding land use and the Pond and will halt further reclamations from the outer side.

An important consideration to implement Link 3 at this time is that use can be made of the sand that is being dredged in Great Bay for the expansion of the port in 2008.

Activities:

• site visit and consultations
• environmental assessment