PHILIPSBURG:--- On Saturday evening February 4th, 2023, the Cay Hill Community Council hosted a town hall meeting for the residents of the Cay Hill, Little Bay districts in particular, and the general public.
After the opening remarks of the Cay Hill Community Council president, Ms. Angelique Romou, several speakers shared information with the audience. Among the approximately 50 persons attending was the Minister of VSA, Mr. Omar Ottley, the Minister of ECYS, Mr. Rodolphe Samuel, and Members of Parliament.
The presentations made by the president of the Cay-Hill Community Council Ms. Romou, the Community Police Officer Ms. Jariesha Jones, and Head of the Ambulance department Mr. Cylred Richardson, were all well received. The concerns about the new SZV Building were all laid to rest as the director of Social & Health Insurances SZV, Mr. Glen Carty, presented the Masterplan for the area where the new SZV office building will be located and gave detailed information about the project. The projected SZV Plaza area, included in the Masterplan, will be a 24/7 accessible park with a jogging lane, playground, and benches.
SZV’s Chief Transition Officer and Project Lead for the new SZV office building, Mrs. Parveen Boertje, elaborated on the efforts to minimize disturbance for the community during the construction. She also provided information about the modernization of the SZV services offered online and on an appointment basis. The audience responded positively to the presented Masterplan and welcomed SZV into the neighborhood.
Based on the Memorandum of Understanding between the Sint Maarten Medical Center (SMMC), SZV, and the Government, the current sports facilities are to be upgraded, and a proposed location for the Olympic pool was presented. The upgraded sports facilities include upgrading the two tennis courts and one full-size multi-purpose field for basketball, netball, volleyball, football, and hockey.
The evening was closed off by Ms. Erika van der Horst, who is SMMC’s contract manager of the new hospital Project and a member of the management team. Ms. Van der Horst gave an extensive update on the latest developments regarding the construction of the New General Hospital and extended an invitation to include the Cay-Hill Community Council in their stakeholder's meetings so that they can be kept abreast as to what is going on with the construction of the new hospital in order to be able to share the information gathered from those meetings with the Cay-Hill Community.
Ms. Romou thanked Mrs. Stevens of The Asha Stevens Hillside Christian School for allowing them to use their facility, the presenters, and everyone who attended the meeting and said that all who attended were very pleased with the amount of information they received, and indicated that the council is looking forward to continuing to provide information and also look forward to continuing with their community outreach initiatives and fun activities for the residents of Cay-Hill.
