current tax revenues on the three islands. The combined population of the three Islands is approximately 20,000 with about half that many being income-taxpayers. Salt production Utilizing the naturally low-lying geography and traditional Dutch dike design, much of Bonaire's southern half has been made into a giant system of ponds and pools which evaporate seawater to produce salt. Presently operated by Cargill, Bonaire's solar salt works produces 400,000 tons of industrial grade salt per year. After collection, the salt is then washed and stored in pyramid-shaped piles roughly 50 feet in height, each containing approximately 10,000 metric tons of 99.6 percent pure salt. The salt facility operates its own pier where ships are loaded with salt destined for North American, European and Western Pacific markets. Bonaire's salt is used primarily in industry. The large condensing ponds which ring the crystallizer basins, called the Pekelmeer, are a natural habitat for numerous species of brine shrimp which in turn feed flocks of hundreds of pink flamingoes and other migratory birds. This is the location of Bonaire's flamingo sanctuary. Oil storage and shipment The Bonaire Petroleum Corporation (BOPEC) is a fuel oil storage and transshipment terminal on Bonaire. BOPEC is wholly owned by Venezuelan oil company PDVSA, and functions primarily as a storage facility for multiple grades of refined and non-refined oils from Venezuela and refineries on Curaçao and Aruba. BOPEC also has mixing and blending capabilities for its stored fuels. BOPEC's #1 pier can receive tankers up to 500,000DWT, which means there are only seven ships in the world that are too big for the BOPEC terminal. A fire at the BOPEC terminal in 2010 is believed to have had a significant impact on Goto Lake and at least one other nearby lagoon. Plantations and plantation houses In 1868 and 1870, a large part of the government land was auctioned and sold. These included five lots for forestry and livestock farming and nine lots for salt exploitation. The buyers of these large lots were mainly wealthy people from Curaçao, successful merchants, who had no intention of living on their plantations. There are no real plantations on Bonaire. The climate and soil conditions on Bonaire are not very favourable for the cultivation of fruits and vegetables of any size. Only salt extraction is economically attractive. In addition, on some "plantations" aloe cultivation (last exported in 1973), maize cultivation (due to drought there was