Projects Circular Economy Social Improvement
2 min.
Back in March of this year, we wrote a piece on the ambitious Airport Boulevard project on St. Eustatius that was entering phase one of its construction at the time. In that piece, we also briefly mentioned the new and improved water drainage system that will form part of the efforts to update and modernize Statia’s FD Roosevelt International Airport and surroundings. Since then, the project has continued to move in the right direction, with Statia Government Commissioner Alida Francis recently giving the OK to Statia Construction NV to start work on the water drainage project at the airport.
Contracts signed
The contracts for the new drainage channel were signed on the 8th of April by both Commissioner Francis and Mr. Lopes of Statia Construction NV, in the presence of Rijkswaterstaat (the Dutch Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management) representative Robert Landsbergen and Mr. Henriquez as representative of project-buro PPMO, Statia’s Program Project Management Office. Landsbergen will function as Project Manager, while Henriquez will be active as Project Manager on behalf of the PPMO.
The purpose of the new water run-off project is to improve the way in which rainwater is collected in the area between the Concordia building, the fire station and the airport terminal itself. The collected rainwater will be moved to a new basin behind the St. Eustatius Animal Welfare Foundation (SEAWF). Once collected in the basin, the water can gradually sink into the ground and better benefit the natural environment.
Circular concept
Better guiding the rainwater from the entire area, which can come pouring down especially during the wet summer periods, will result in better infiltration of the water. This will greatly benefit the soil and all of the organisms living off that soil, including the local inhabitants of the island. The ideal result would be for the collected and guided rainwater to be pumped up again when needed for use in agricultural practices. On top of that, the new system will also have a profound and positive impact on the quality of the groundwater, not just in the area, but for the whole island. Who said that improved living conditions and circular practices could not go hand in hand?
The basis for this article was originally published on www.statiagovernment.com in April 2022.
