A Call to Action in the Face of Crisis
April 14, 2024
It is Saturday, and suddenly, I feel a sense of urgency. I feel rushed because many people around me act as if nothing is wrong. I can understand this to some extent because people lack information and simply don't know the facts. This feeling is also fueled by the recent loss of a colleague who succumbed to dengue. The government needs to provide more information about dengue, which is wreaking havoc worldwide.
In Friday's newspaper, I read on the front page that Minister VVPR announced that the hotel, which previously lacked a proper building permit, will now be allowed to expand, about 20 meters into the sea because both old and new buildings are affected by rising seawater (Van Marichi tot Pietermaai, 2024). A few weeks ago, I visited some monuments of the Monument Foundation in Scharloo and saw with my own eyes that seawater permanently floods the basements or floors. In other words, we are already experiencing the significant effects of rising sea levels due to the climate crisis on a tangible scale. This was illustrated in 2023 with a map by the Curaçao Climate Change Platform, but even that map is hardly accessible on the internet. Just like with dengue and rising sea levels, people are uninformed by the government and NGOs supposedly dealing with it.
Then there's the issue of surpassing the carrying capacity of the island with the development of tourism. There may be criticisms of certain projects, but no one is just speaking plainly about the situation. Perhaps this is because no one has any idea how to develop an alternative economic sector apart from e-gaming, similar to Malta. And nobody talks about the problems that e-gaming has caused for Malta. Another reason why this issue isn't being addressed is because bankers simply profit from hotel construction, and they want it to stay that way.
The clock is ticking, and we may already be too late.