PHILIPSBURG:--- The people of St. Maarten especially environmental groups and members of the local community who are in favor of government purchasing the Emilio Wilson Estate can now breathe a sigh of relief as the court ordered the Government of St. Maarten to comply with the agreement former Minister of VROMI William Marlin made with heir of the property Henri Brookson. The decision was handed down on Friday after an injunction was filed by Brookson when he learnt that the SWW-3 cabinet would not have upheld the agreement made by the SWW-2 cabinet.
The advice given by the CFT worked against government in court and now the Government of St. Maarten has to find the monies necessary to purchase the estate based on the purchase agreement the Government of St. Maarten has with Henri Brookson.
Using the letters written by William Marlin, Minister of VROM at that time (July 20, 2012), as well as several letters from General Secretary of VROMI Louis Brown, the court came to the conclusion that a sales agreement was in fact reached, under the condition of approval of the purchase in the budget.
The court ruled that since the budget was approved and that budget included the amount for the purchase of the Emilio Wilson Estate, there was no impediment to purchasing the land.
In their advice on the 2013 budget, the CFT advised government not to enter into any loans, therefore government could not purchase the estate since it was placed in the budget as to be purchased through loans.
On October 28, 2013, the Minister of Finance sent a letter to the Brookson group informing them that the condition given by the CFT prevented them from continuing the negotiations on a possible purchase of the estate at this point in time. This letter led Brookson group to seek relief from the court via a summary injunction.
Government presented several arguments against the claim by the Brookson group but the judge rejected them all. The judge ruled that those letters from Marlin pointed to an agreement and government was bound by it. It furthermore ruled that the CFT only gives advice and any risks associated with such advice are for the account of government.
The court therefore granted all the demands of the Brookson group, after lowering the penalties somewhat. Government was ordered to sign the sales agreement with the Brookson group within fourteen days, under penalty of a fine of US$100,000 and US$10,000 for every day that they failed to comply with the sentence. Within 90 days government must cooperate with the delivery of the land from Brookson to Country St. Maarten, under penalty of US$100,000 along with US$10,000 for each day government fails to comply with the sentence.
The court also ordered government to make a non-refundable deposit of US$5,000,000 to the Brookson group, again under penalty of US$100,000 along with a fine of US$10,000 per day for each day government fails to comply. Government also has to place a mortgage on the land in order to guarantee payment of the amount of US$15 million under penalty of US$100,000 along with a fine of US$10,000 per day for each day government fails to comply. In addition, government has to pay an interest of 1% per month on any amounts outstanding on the purchase after five months. Government was also condemned to pay court fees of Naf. 9,296.50 with interest.
Click here to view the decision of the Court regarding the sale of EWE to Goverment.
