WILLEMSTAD - If it is up to the Clean Environment on Curaçao (SMOC) foundation, the Isla refinery will also be closed permanently with the departure of the CRU employees at the end of September. In the Dutch newspaper Trouw, SMOC chairman Peter van Leeuwen speaks of the biggest environmental crime in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
After shutting down the refinery in 2020, SMOC showed through the court that the Isla was responsible for most of the sulfur dioxide emissions on the island. In June, the appeals court ruled in favor of SMOC and demanded stricter environmental requirements for the islanders. SMOC is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year, according to chairman van Leeuwen. It would be a nice gift if the rusted gate of the refinery was permanently locked, says van Leeuwen.