PHILIPSBURG:--- The Council of Ministers approved the long lease that is to be granted to Rainforest Adventure on March 18th 2015.
According to documents SMN News obtained showed that an advice prepared by Domain Affairs which was signed off by the head of VROMI Louis Brown on March 9th 2015 and booked in at the Department of General Affairs under Div. number 3921 showed that Domain Affairs in its advice to government proposed that Rainforest Adventure will get 357,910 square meters of land at the Emilio Wilson Estate in long lease. The developer should pay the government of St. Maarten Naf.2.00 per square meter annually, while they will pay a head tax of $1.25 on each passenger that disembark at the harbor. Based on the calculations in the advice sent to government by domain affairs the developer would end up paying Naf. 715.000.00 annually instead of the Naf.2.3380.10M if government followed the advice sent to them by domain affairs. However, the government of St. Maarten will lose over Naf.1.6M every year from this long lease because they were supposed to charge Naf.6.65 per square meter when properly calculated based on the purchase price of the property.
However, when the advice was treated on March 18th 2015, the Council of Ministers agreed to drop the price to Naf.1.20 per square meter. This means for the 357,910 square meters of land that Rainforest Adventures will obtain from government at the Emilio Wilson Estate they will only pay Naf.429.492.000.00 per year. This however, shows that government stands to lose much more than the Naf.1.6M.
In accessing the deal that was given to Rainforest Adventure for the purpose of development it is clear that a number of things transpired from 2003 when former Minister William Marlin made the purchase agreement. Former Minister Maurice Lake accused former Minister William Marlin for not following proper procedures and doing things illegally. The former Minister was caught lying on the floor of parliament when he made his statements. It must be clear that the purchase of Emilio Wilson Estate was approved by the CFT through a loan agreement.
It is understood that Domain Affairs wanted Rainforest Adventures to pay Naf.25 based on the value of the land but that had to be dropped to Naf.2.00 per square meter, but that was not good enough for the acting Minister of VROMI and the Council of Ministers that are preaching integrity and now wants to install an integrity chamber, this very council decided to further drop the lease price to Naf.1.20, this will now allow the investor to save Naf. 1.950.609,50 annually or one could say government will lose Naf. 117.036.570 for 60 years.
Breaking down the figures show show that NAf.6.65 is the legal amount that is to be charged based on the law, 8% of the purchase price per square meter. The acting Minister of VROMI Marcel Gumbs claimed that Rainforest Adventures will 'help' the Nature Foundation and Emilio Wilson Estate therefore it is acceptable for him to allow government to lose Naf 5,45 X 357.910 m2 = Naf 1.950.609,50
If one looks at the yearly loss alone they will conclude that had government placed that amount in is budget and then provide the two entities with reasonable subsidies they both would have been better off because so far everything is based on a promise made by Rainforest Adventures.
Another issue this entire affair has raised is the building permit that was granted to Rainforest Adventures because the building permit has not yet been adjusted. According to information SMN News obtained government intends to change the entire policy which would have to be discussed again since this was already done adopted. So far no one know exaclty what Rainforest Adventures would build inside the Emilio Wilson Estate, no plans was submitted thus far even though their building permit has to be fully adjusted. One must conclude that based on the agreement below, the acting Minister of VROMI will have to explain the people of St. Maarten how would government get a return on its investments for the purchase of Emilio Wilson Estate.
