PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications Hon. Ted Richardson proudly witnessed on Tuesday afternoon the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between St. Maarten International Telecommunications Services (SMITCOMS) and the National Office for the Caribbean Netherlands (RCN) related to the Saba, Statia Cable System (SSCS).
The MOA allows for further arrangements to be made to land the SSCS cable on Sint Maarten at the landing point operated by SMITCOMS (beach manhole).
Minister Richardson and members of his Cabinet were very instrumental in facilitating the process in bringing the two signatory parties together reaching to the point of the signing of the MOA on Tuesday.
An overview was carried out by the Minister and his Cabinet in August to ascertain what had been done in the past. Thereafter, all parties worked diligently leading to the successful signing of the MOA three months later.
The SSCS will bring extra telecommunications capacity for St. Eustatius and Saba, and it will also benefit Sint Maarten.
The MOA was signed by SMITCOMS Managing Director E. Louisa while Sybren van Dam, signed on behalf of RCN as its Director.
Minister Hon. Ted Richardson stated on Wednesday prior to observing the signing by the two aforementioned parties, that Tuesday was an important day for the countries of Sint Maarten and the Netherlands as well as the TELEM Group of Companies.
"The issue of the subsea SSCS telecommunications cable has been resolved after lingering for nearly three years. After reviewing what had transpired, I decided to look for a win-win situation for all parties concerned, and this is the result of it.
"The signing of an MOA represents a win-win for both signatories and for the consumers of the BES islands and Sint Maarten," Minister of Telecommunications Hon. Ted Richardson said on Tuesday afternoon.
RCN Director Sybren van Dam said he was very pleased that the problem was resolved and was very glad to have been able to reach an agreement by working together.
SMITCOMS Managing Director E. Louisa stated that he was very happy today as he represented the landing partner, adding that the TELEM Group of Companies has the expertise and knowledge, and RCN choose the best party with respect to this endeavour.