SINT MAARTEN (PHILIPSBURG) - Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs Ms. Silveria Jacobs will be spearheading the launch of the single-use plastic project, “St. Maarten Plastic Free,” on February 21, 2023. This project is funded by the RESEMBID program in the amount of 247,872 Euros. The official launch signals the implementation phase of the project will be livestreamed via the SXMGOV Facebook Page at 2:45pm, to facilitate an all-inclusive launch. A key implementation partner involved in the St. Maarten Plastic Free project is the St. Maarten Development Fund (SMDF).
Single-use plastic and Styrofoam are used widely throughout Sint Maarten, and this is primarily due to a limited understanding of the full impact of these materials, scarce regulations, and poor public awareness. The St. Maarten Plastic Free project intends to address the management of single-use plastic and Styrofoam to contribute to the protection and preservation of life in our oceans, including all marine animals, plants, and microorganisms.
The activities of the St. Maarten Plastic Free project aim to bring about institutional change through various methods, like implementing laws and framework for how St. Maarten interacts with harmful single-use materials; training for inspectors to increase understanding; and implementing the laws in businesses through proper education. The project also seeks to make behavioral change through researching how to make harmful single-use materials less desirable to use and replace them with sustainable alternatives. This also ties into the enforcement of sanctions and fines as well as targeting youth through various mediums and showing them the impact of pollution on St. Maarten; finally, by hosting targeted community events to motivate active change within the community.
The activities of the St. Maarten Plastic Free project aim to bring about institutional change through various methods, like setting up laws and frameworks for how St. Maarten interacts with harmful single-use materials; training for inspectors to increase understanding; and implementing the laws in businesses through proper education.
The project also aims to bring about behavioural change through researching how to make harmful single-use materials less desirable to use and replace them with sustainable alternatives. This also ties into the enforcement of sanctions and fines as well as targeting youth through various mediums. Finally, the project will host community-based events to promote the knowledge for citizens.
“It is my distinct pleasure that this project is finally realized. The launch will take place at the Government Administration Building on Tuesday, February 21. I would like to encourage everyone to tune into the Live Stream on the SXM Gov Facebook Page at 2:45PM. I look forward to community participation through, looking at ways to reduce, reuse, recycle, refuse, repurpose, and repair plastic and other hazardous single-use materials. Individually and collectively, we can make a difference and positively impact our environment by controlling waste and minimizing pollution of our air, earth, and water, protecting our biodiversity and eco system which sustains us. This has been a project I wanted to see come to fruition this year, and this launch represents the start of the awareness campaign to involve the entire community. We are in this together.” said Prime Minister Jacobs.
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