Washington, World Bank, August 31, 2020 (Sint Maarten ISWM)

Aim Texas Consultants has completed Sint Maarten Country Solid Waste Sector Assessment and submit a report to the World Bank.

The objective of the solid waste sector assessment report is to complete a status quo analysis of the existing SWM system in Sint Maarten to eventually establish an ISWMS and an Action Plan that accomplishes necessary improvements and overcomes current impediments to developing an environmentally sound, cost-effective solid waste management for the Country.

Sint Maarten is classified as high-income country by UN and World Bank with nominal per capita GDP of US$ 26,500, which is slightly higher than regional average (US$ 20,000). Main economic drivers in the country are: i) tourism and tourism related activities, ii) ports and airport, iii) offshore finance, iv) international trade, marine transport, import/export, v) small scale local industries, mostly are light industries, and vi) weak cultural industries. There is no agricultural activity in the island.

The island and the similar SIDS in Caribbean Region are experiencing second economic shock after Hurricane Irma with COVID-19 outbreak and limitations applied since March 2020.

There is only one international airport (Princess Juliana International Airport – PJIA) on the Island. It is located on the Sint Maarten side and viewed as a major contributor to the Sint Maarten economy.  The yearly average passenger capacity of PJIA is around 1.8 million passengers.  In 2014 the airport and its users accounted for 60% of Sint Maarten’s GDP and 52% of total employment. The airport itself had revenues over USD 59 million in 2014.

At a regional scale the Port of Philipsburg is a service port which connects with both intra-regional hub-ports as well as other service ports in the region, and global hub-ports in Caribbean region.

There is no separate Waste Management Authority (WMA) established specifically for waste management in Sint Maarten. Solid waste collection and disposal operations are under the management of the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (VROMI), which also handles infrastructure planning and development.

There is no waste collection and disposal tariff set by the government, no user charge for households and institutions (government departments and schools) in the country.  There is also no billing system for SWM services. Except commercial waste collection and transport budget, all SWM budget is provided by the government as government subsidy, including collection and transport budget of household and institutional waste, area cleaning waste, and the budget for disposal and treatment. The similarity of MSW composition of Sint Maarten with Caribbean SIDS is remarkable. The following comparison shows that MSW composition in Sint Maarten almost mimics the character of waste generated in Caribbean SIDS.