Maybe the Isla should stay…
First off, don’t let the title make you angry just yet. I think the Isla is a terrible thorn in the eye of Curacao. Each time I cross the bridge, I look the other way and am embarrassed when I show friends or family the island. Not to mention the disgusting smell it blows over parts of Curacao. I am sorry for the schools, who operate under the smoke of the Isla and the people who have to live there and get sick.
However, I started thinking about it in a different way. Why? Well, simply because the last few months on occasion huge lines formed in front of the gas stations whenever there was something going wrong there. Besides that, Aqualectra failed a couple of times because they couldn’t produce enough energy so they started switching.
Of course I read a newspaper so I hoped to get more info there on what was going on. They have the info, but I get pretty annoyed by all the Star Wars-parody name calling like CD-3, CUC and BOO. So I stopped reading and thought about what I see and hear on the streets around me.
So I started thinking about all the Mad Max and post-apocalypse movies out there where whole populations are fighting each other over that last bit of fuel. Whoever has the fuel, has the power (this saying also applies to the Isla here I guess). So what happens if fuel becomes scarce and/ or very expensive here on Curacao? Curacao is a car-fixated island. Why? Simply because it’s too hot to get groceries on a bike. Even when Curacao has superb bike paths I don’t see a constructor on a bike giving a ride to his 8 workers along with a cement mill.
Still, people should bike more and maybe in the future kids will ride their bikes to school. But, many people on Curacao just don’t have the money for expensive gas and many jobs here depend on it. Also, think of the higher transportation costs, which will drive up the inflation overall. And who can pay for hybrid cars and how will those cars react to all the salt and sunshine?
So that’s what I am afraid off. I am afraid that closing down the Isla will have a serious effect on the inflation, on poverty and will maybe create a post-apocalypse future for Curacao. I don’t know about you, but I am afraid of Mad Max. That dude is crazy…
Will developing the Isla terrain (for tourism) and investing in solar and wind energy solve these possible problems? Maybe look at it is if you would only eat meet and fish when the animals have led a good life (like a free-range chicken). We need to eat as much as we need fuel, so we simply need the stables and the factories to keep us alive. So maybe we just need a ‘free-range Isla’ instead of getting rid of it?
Ook leuk om te lezen:
To quote an Oil Sheik: “The Stone Age didn’t end because we ran out of stones. The same will be the case for the Oil Age.”
I’ve thought about the closing of that ugly f***er often enough, and I really wonder whether it would really be so bad to close it! Especially here in the sundrenched Caribbean, on islands surrounded by the sea, we should be taking FULL advantage of all the FREE power the Sun, Wind, and Waves could deliver us. Free power that is on tap EVERY day… NO power outages due to strikes, as the Sun is always eager to burn down on us during the day, the wind will happily keep blowing day and night*, and the waves keep beating down on our shores and carrying surfers towards the beach.
*unless there are unique days where there is absolutely no wind, but then you still have solar power.
You only need to look at the recent shit in the Gulf of Mexico to see that oil shouldn’t be the one and only power source to think of. Not only do we continuously run the risk of oilspills ruining our beaches and waters, the refinery also pollutes the air and surrounding land and poisons all the people who live down wind from it. It was extremely surprising to me that people actually built new apartment complexes at piscadera etc, down wind of Aqualectra and the refinery. Who in their right mind voluntarily chooses to live down wind of a refinery?
Politicians and regular people here should have more balls to admit that we need to sacrifice things in order for our island to stay the way it is or improve, so future generations can treasure it. Short-term gain doesn’t benefit the community, and I wonder how much the refinery really ends up contributing to the local economy. I still think people are looking out for their own personal interests and that of their buddies too much over here, so much so that a lot of things stay the way they are. We can’t afford to stay behind, we should try to get ahead!
Again I have to say that it’s a shame that Curaçao didn’t do what BES islands did, and choose to become a Dutch county. If we were, we’d be able to get EU subsidies and all kinds of help, which could enable us to ditch the f•••er and clean the area there up somewhat and just cover it with a thick layer of clean earth over concrete or whatever and make it a huge park with native flora. Bye bye eyesore and hello nice views. Alternatively, just remove the refinery and clean it up and turn it into a larger harbor.
He Eelco, I totally agree with you. But what I wanted to point out with the article is that there is nobody thinking about what happens to gas prices etc and how that affects the local economy. I know we need other energy sources but it will take a lot of time to completely replace oil. So what about the meantime? You see how scared people get when somebody is shouting on the radio that they might go on strike. All of a sudden there are police cars at the gas stations keeping the chaos in order… So what will happen with no Isla, and will will the very ‘competent’ governments of Curacao resolve this.
Plan Waterstof Revolutie Curaçao ligt al bijna tien jaar ergens onder in een lade bij Forti en was een ideale oplossing geweest. Echter “zelfverrijking” is het enige dat op ons dushi isla wordt gerealiseerd, nadan mas. Triest maar waar.
Uitzendingen m.b.t. het plan waren te zien bij VPRO uitzending Tegenlicht: http://tegenlicht.vpro.nl/afleveringen/2003-2004/de-waterstofrevolutie.html
I absolutely agree with Eelco and don’t have to elaborate on that since he has done so. Seb, I understand your point but if you actually talk to some people, they ultimately do not really understand what is going on at all. All they see is that gas stations are closed with ‘no gas’ signs and see cars lining up so they do the same because their car is on empty. The problem is much more political than we think. Gas stations are in on it. They have plenty of stored gar. Who are they kidding. There is plenty of oil and always has been. Come on, we live right next to a country with one of the biggest oil reserves in the world and do business with them.
The problem is that the shareholders of the Isla and BOO (electric plant) do not want to invest in this old technology to maintain it because there is no return. The Curacao government is involved as well. I do agree with Eelco that Curacao should have chosen to be a Dutch country so that this could all be subsidized and eventually phased-out to make room for renewable energy technology.
The people of Curacao simply have to wake up and demand during elections and referendums that the government invest its money in upgrading the existing non-renewable energy technology, clean up the mess, and invest in renewable energy technology. How much more can the Curacao government spell it out to the people. There is a clear political problem and the people don’t give a sh*t even though it is negatively effecting the health and well-being of the people.
This political corruption has to stop or it will just get worse.