St. Martin finds itself today with many homeless and needy people. There are people who do not have enough to eat, nowhere to sleep,and many other forms of neediness. Many are lonely without even realizing it. Many have psychological problems today that we have never even heard of.
We also do not the infrastructure on the island to properly care for these people. Even worse, more and more people are coming to the island every year. Many people, some here illegaly send for other members of their families who require either medical care or specialized services, those services which we are already so ill-equipped to provide.
What are we to do in such a case? Many would say it would be inhumane to repatriate them, if they have nothing back where they came from. But that leaves us still with the problem of how to support more than we are able to? Something has to give at some point in time, and what is going to happen when it does? And those are only the most serious ones, from the point of view of those concerned.
What is this islands carrying capacity? It is already no. 16 in the world as far as population per square mile is concerned. We have no economical basis except for tourism and on the French side especially, the dole. We have no agriculture to speak of, and therefore cannot feed ourselves. What happens if we can no longer import? We already have no jobs available, especially for the young people, who make up 40% of the population of the island.
How many outsiders who live exclusively on monies paid by the CAF can we continue to support. Who will continue to pay this burden, and for how long?
When are we going to do something about it?
Well said. Either the authorities don't want to handle this difficult situation or they are afraid to. In any case we are bursting at all seams and something has to be done and without delay.
ReplyDeleteWell one way to help is being proactive, and writing about the truth in St Maarten. When I first got to California and San Francisco back in 1998, I was telling all of my friends that there were no homeless in St Maarten, and we didn't need soup kitchens. Return to St Maarten almost 20 years later, and very little difference except when it comes to size. We have to help the needy, but more importantly we have to help the needy help themselves.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments guys!
ReplyDelete