St. Martin News Network

Philipsburg: --- Island Councilman Leroy de Weever felt that the current executive council led by leader of National Alliance William Marlin has left commissioner of Public Works Theo Heyliger to fend for himself as all of the members and supporting members of the current executive council did not show up to give Heyliger the required quorum for an island council meeting on Monday. De Weever said it was clear that Heyliger had to fend for himself and woe; the votes from members of the Democratic Party to get his proposal to amend the spatial planning ordinance. Absent from the island council meeting on Monday was independent Island council member Louis Laveist, leader of the National Alliance William Marlin who is currently off island, Island Council member Rudolph Samuel and Island Council man George Pantophelt who did not wait for the voting. Seven votes were cast on Monday after the debates on the amendment four of which came from the Democratic Party. Members of the DP said the only reason they gave Heyliger the quorum was that they understand the importance of the amendment to the ordinance, which would allow most parts of the island to be zoned.
After posing several questions pertaining to Public Works the Democratic Party requested a five minutes adjournment to caucus before casting their vote, just then the DP members walked out to the gallery of the Government Administration Building where they invited Heyliger to also caucus with them before returning to their seats to vote in favor of the amendment.
Members of the Democratic Party asked direct questions pertaining to the processing of building, hindrance and planning permits that is taking almost forever to process. Heyliger said the department is currently short of staff and the salary scales to attract these skilled labour is not conducive. He said for the year 2007 some 443 building permits were requested, 324 of them were processed and granted while 66 are waiting for corrections and 57 of them were ready but not picked up. Leader of the Democratic Party Sarah Wescot Williams said she would like to get a breakdown of the permits that needs corrections for years 2007 through 2010, while she wants to know why and who are the persons who did not pick up their permits even though its ready. Heyliger responded by saying that those that were not picked up carry a financial cost to it, reason why he believed the applicants did not pick them up. The commissioner also promised to supply all members of the island council the answers to their questions in writing within the next seven days.
The commissioner of Public Works said some 411 building permits were requested in 2008, 332 of them were granted, 5 of them are still being processed, while 74 of them need corrections. In the year 2009 336 building permits were requested, 201 were issued 12 are being processed currently, 34 of them are for corrections while 39 of those permits are soon to be signed off.
Heyliger told the council that one of the main hindrances in the processing of certain permits it is the lack of an environmental inspector. The commissioner said the inspector for St. Maarten went on pension and the one that was to begin working for St. Maarten has chosen to work in Curacao. The commissioner said currently the department is negotiating with the retired inspector to give him another extension on his contract until the new environmental inspector takes office here on May 1. The members of the Democratic Party also shared their concerns regarding the halt in the processing of these permits and the impact it would have on the economy. They suggested that the department of ROB work with some of the contractors to process the pending permits however, Heyliger said he already made such a suggestion but the department felt that it would be too costly for the island government. The public works commissioner said already government has set aside some 500,000 guilders to hire one two consultants that are willing to work along with VROM on the zoning.
Councilman De Weever also informed the council that local contractors are planning to demonstrate sometime soon for the lack of work now that that permits is not being handled. He said the contractors would be sharing their concerns especially how the current government is handling the processing of building and other permits. De Weever also expressed his concerns this would have on the economy as well as with the locals residents who can take advantage with the banks regarding loans at lower rates. The island councilman said the halt on the processing of these permits is affecting several businesses and functioning of public works is now unacceptable. He said based on how things are going it does not seem as if government cares about the ripple effect this will cause. He said while he would like to see the current executive council not perform but that would be at the people's expense.

KEMAR

Island Councilman Leroy de Weever got agitated on Monday when Commissioner Theo Heyliger informed the council that the Lt. Governor's cabinet has more questions regarding KEMAR. De Weever in his response and an effort to get a clear picture on the hold up said he wants to know if the Governor's Cabinet is working as some form of higher supervision or if it was one of the members of the current executive council is using the governor cabinet to side track the people's business. Island Council member Roy Marlin also asked for more clarification as to why the governor's cabinet is now getting involved in posing more questions when in fact the project passes through the governor's cabinet before executive council takes a decision.
Island councilman Roy Marlin also expressed his concerns on the KEMAR cost quality analysis. He said when the commissioner presented his terms of reference in the central committee he expressed urgency in the project since the sanitary landfill is coming close to its lifespan. He said that the situation at the sanitary landfill is disastrous something Heyliger agreed saying that something has to be done to regulate the garbage situation St. Maarten. Marlin said based on his experience he knows that the governor's cabinet saw it already and now having more questions is beyond is comprehension. He said simply cannot grasp what role the governor's cabinet is playing at this point. Marlin said the contract prepared by KEMAR had a team of professionals within government and the contractors themselves over a year and half now. He said he wanted to know if the current government will now abolish these studies and if they are going to start all over again to move the KEMAR proposal. Marlin said the holding of this contract would also affect the GEBE concession, which will expire by the end of March.