Great Bay:--- On Monday morning the lease agreement between Air-Fin and the St. Maarten Harbor Cargo Facilities (SMHCF) was signed and the addendum II to the water supply was also signed between the Government of St. Maarten, Minister Cornelius De Weever and Air-Fin/Seven Seas Water. Negotiations were held between the SMHCF, Air-Fin and Government for the lease of the warehouse building of the SMHCF. These negotiations were concluded successfully in November 2012.
The agreement signed today is an addition to the Water Supply Agreement Government signed in 2007 with Air-Fin/Seven Seas Water for the production and supply of desalinated water intended for distribution as drinking water by GEBE. This Addendum II secures the water production and supply on short and medium term up to 2021.
Air-Fin will build two new identical plants in Pointe Blanche on the Harbour premises. Each plant is a modular plant with a production capacity of 3,700 m3 per day. The construction of the first plant will start in 2013 and will be operational end of June 2013, while the second plant will be built to be operational no later than February 2016. The water produced will be distributed in Pointe Blanche, parts of Philipsburg and on the eastern side of the island.
The offers/options submitted were evaluated taking into account the vision of the Minister of Public Health, Social Development & Labor to have the water production facilities and operations under the direct responsibility of a new Government owned entity of St. Maarten at the end of the term.
The period of time up to the end of the term provides ample possibility to prepare and train experts and to institute the necessary organization, to take over the responsibilities and the installations of Air-Fin/Seven Seas Water, creating new high level jobs for St. Maarteners.
The operations of the Point Blanche Plants will provide five new positions of employment at different education levels and skills. In addition, the Desalination Resource Development Program is open to students who are currently enrolled in a college, university or technical school, and have declared a major of mechanical, electrical, chemical engineering or the like. Monetary stipends will be paid to the participants in consideration of their program and time commitments.
The Government and in particular the Minister of Public Health Social Development & Labor is responsible for the supply of drinking water to the public of St. Maarten. The tasks of supplying drinking water has been outsourced to two companies, the water production company Air Fin, also known as Seven Seas Water St. Maarten, and the drinking water distribution company GEBE.
The water supply activities are laid down in two agreements, a Water Supply Agreement, for production and purchase of water between Government and Air-Fin and a Drinking Water Management Agreement between Government and GEBE for the distribution and supply of water to consumers.
Over the years the outsourcing of the production of water has proven to be a very cost effective initiative, as production cost went down and the financial results of the water distribution company have changed from a deficit into profit situation.
