GREAT BAY--Member of Parliament Sjamira Roseburg has tabled a motion calling on government to move within 60 days on a series of measures to combat littering and illegal dumping, including a permanent enforcement unit, patrols at known dumping hotspots, bilingual warning signs, a public reporting hotline and intensified enforcement of the existing Waste Ordinance.
The motion also calls for longer-term legislative changes that would allow administrative fines to be issued directly, establish a financial reward for citizens whose reports result in a final fine, and create a legal basis for publicly identifying repeat or commercial-scale offenders.
Roseburg’s motion describes littering and illegal dumping as a long-standing structural problem in St. Maarten, pointing to waste along public roads, overflowing landfill areas and garbage accumulating in mangroves. It also questions the government’s recently announced “island wide clean-up,” stating that Parliament and the public have not yet received detailed information about its scope, duration, implementation or budget.
The motion notes that the prohibition against littering contained in Article 31 of the Waste Ordinance has remained materially unchanged since 2010 and that the associated maximum criminal fine of NAf 1,000 has never been indexed. Roseburg argues that enforcement through the criminal justice system is too slow for the large number of relatively straightforward violations, resulting in enforcement being virtually absent in practice.
She further points out that there is currently no legal requirement to inform residents at dumping locations of the prohibition and applicable fine. The motion argues that a one-time clean-up addresses the visible symptoms of the problem but will have little lasting effect without continued enforcement and structural measures.
Under the first part of the motion, government is requested to designate a standing enforcement unit within VROMI or the City Inspector with a specific mandate to continuously monitor illegal dumping. The unit would operate according to a fixed patrol and inspection schedule covering known hotspots rather than treating enforcement as an occasional exercise.
Government would also be required to clearly communicate what is and is not permitted through signage, its website and the media. Roseburg wants bilingual Dutch and English signs installed at known dumping areas, displaying the prohibition, the applicable fine and either a reporting telephone number or QR code.
The motion further calls for an accessible hotline through which residents can report illegal dumping, preferably supported by photographs or video. It asks government to increase enforcement under the existing Waste Ordinance in cooperation with police and the Prosecutor’s Office and to establish a minimum number of inspections per month as a measurable target.
Within the same 60-day period, government would be required to inform Parliament of the exact scope, duration, agencies involved and budget for the announced island-wide clean-up, as well as progress made on the other measures contained in the motion.
Roseburg is also asking government to provide Parliament with a factual overview of all fines, citations and prosecutions issued under Article 31 of the Waste Ordinance, including the number of cases and their outcomes, to establish how extensively the existing prohibition has actually been enforced.
The second part of the motion seeks amendments to the Waste Ordinance. Roseburg wants government to introduce administrative fining authority that would allow violations of Article 31 to be fined directly without requiring involvement from the Prosecutor’s Office.
She also proposes that a percentage of an imposed fine, for example up to 10 percent, could be awarded to a citizen whose report results in a final and uncontested fine. The motion additionally calls for a statutory basis to publicly disclose the identities of repeat offenders or those involved in commercial-scale illegal dumping.
Roseburg notes that administrative fines, financial rewards for successful reports and public disclosure cannot simply be introduced through policy because they require a legal foundation.
The motion states that she has already prepared an initiative draft national ordinance to amend the Waste Ordinance. The proposed legislation includes provisions for administrative fines, mandatory signage, a reporting hotline with a reward mechanism and an increase in the maximum criminal fine.
Roseburg is asking government to cooperate with that legislative initiative while making clear that authorities do not have to wait for the law to be amended before implementing measures already permitted under existing law, including signage, a reporting hotline and more active enforcement.
The motion also refers to repeated public appeals by the VROMI Minister in 2026 urging residents to stop illegal dumping and use proper disposal channels. It notes, however, that those appeals have not been accompanied by any published record showing an actual fine, citation or prosecution under Article 31.
Roseburg argues that enforcement must become a regular government responsibility rather than an occasional symbolic exercise, with residents and businesses clearly understanding the rules and knowing that violations will consistently result in consequences.
Regardless of how quickly the legislative amendments move forward, the motion requests a written report to Parliament within 90 days detailing progress on both the immediate enforcement measures and the legislative track.
