PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams informed members of the media on Wednesday that members of the supervisory board of the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) did not show up for a meeting that was convened by the Minister of Public Health Cornelius de Weever to discuss the future of SMMC.
Wescot Williams said that the Minister convened the meeting because he was not getting cooperation from SMMC to finalize the expansion that is badly needed. She said that APS and SZV had sent a proposal to SMMC informing them that they were willing to finance the expansion which is in excess of Naf. 30 million.
She said over the past months the Minister of Health has been meeting with the stakeholders to finalize the expansion. She explained that during those discussions it was mostly a lot of writing. Wescot Williams said some weeks ago after SZV sent their proposal to SMMC to finance the expansion of the hospital, SMMC sent a letter to SZV posing several questions thus government saw it fit to bring parties around the table. However, the supervisory board of SMMC just did not show up for the meeting.
Wescot Williams also stated that urgent repairs have to be done at certain parts of the hospital, therefore, she and the Minister of Health asked SZV and APS to finance those repairs to the tune of Naf. 5 million. The Prime Minister said she had expected feedback from all parties on Tuesday on the agreement for the financing of the repairs but she did not receive that as yet. She further explained that she told management of SMMC that government is expecting to get some information from them. She made clear that she did not want to conclude that SMMC is refusing to cooperate with SZV or APS on the repairs and expansion.
