Philipsburg:--- Businessman Elmer Moses Mardenborough the person who is entitled to the long lease for a parcel of land he filled in the Sucker Garden area known as the Souliga Boulevard is planning his next step since it was revealed that the former Democratic Party executive council issued a long lease to Maria Buncamper Molanus and her husband Claudius Toonjie Buncamper for a parcel of land he (Mardenborough) filled in with government's permission.Mardenborough showed documents to prove that he invested close to$ 200,000.00 to fill in the land and to date he has not received any compensation for his investments while he charged that government is liable for damages and the loss of his investments.
Moses Mardenborough in an exclusive interview with SMN News said he received permission from government in 1996 to fill in a part of the Great Salt pond and to occupy it until government finalizes the process to grand him a long lease. Mardenborough provided SMN News with a stack of documents to show his claim. Among the documents is a declaration by former island council member William Marlin now senator of St. Maarten which states that while he Marlin was in government his executive council had decided to subdivide land in the Great Salt pond in the area of Sucker Garden for the development of small businesses. Other parcels of the land were granted to persons and companies in the field of heavy equipments, concrete and asphalt. Marlin stated in his declaration that at that time Government wanted to create an industrial zone and to stimulate the removal of the heavy equipments from residential areas.
The former leader of government said the parcels were allotted with the understanding that as soon as VROM and Domain Affairs had prepared the subdivision plan and the draft resolutions the lands in question would be transferred. It was also agreed that persons and companies who filled in the land themselves and were allowed to use the land pending the completion of the plans.
The declaration further stated that Mardenborough was allotted a parcel of land in the industrial zone area with the understanding that he was allowed to fill in the lands pending the completion of the paper work. The department of VROM and Domain Affairs had been involved with the process Marlin stated in his declaration.
However, when Marlin left government and the Democratic Party took over, the plans government had were abolished and the persons who filled in the parcels of land never got their long lease neither were they notified when someone else got a long lease for the property they occupied. Mardenborough also provided the letters he was served by the attorneys representing the St. Maarten Building Supplies which stated that they were in possession of a lease for the property and they are ordering him to remove his materials and other properties from said land.
Mardenborough and his lawyers began the fight back then and they wrote several letters to the executive council who never replied to their enquiries. According to Mardenborough, his lawyer at the time Nilda Arduin began investigating and she discovered that an advice made up by VROM was sent to the Executive Council on December 15 2004 advising government to grant the lease to the head of VROM Claudius Buncamper and his wife Maria Buncamper who was a parliamentarian and senator at that time. Government then took a decision which was signed only by former commissioner of domain affairs Roy Marlin and the Lt. Governor of St. Maarten Franklyn Richards to grant the Buncampers the lease for one year with the option to renew. The lease was granted on January 1 2005 to December 31 2005.
Exactly three days after the advice was sent to government to grant the Buncampers the lease, they signed a lease agreement with the St. Maarten Building Supplies.
Amazingly, the lease agreement between the Buncampers and the St. Maarten Building Supplies was drafted on December 18th 2004 almost two weeks before government granted the elected representative and civil servant a lease for the property.
The lease agreements states that the monthly installments amounts to Naf. 2100.00 included all transfer and any other costs related to the transaction. The lessee also has an option to renew at which time the monthly lease will be determined. All of which was also in the lease agreement the Buncampers have with the island government.
Discrepancies.
While the former executive council knew who filled in Great Salt Pond (Souliga Boulevard) and what type of business Mardenborough was conducting on the property located across from the Melford Hazel Centre they went ahead and granted a long lease to the Buncampers despite a ruling from the court. It should be noted that Mardenborough officially requested a long lease for the property on April 25 2005.
Mardenborough provided the ruling from the administrative court who ordered government to take a decision which was either to honour the agreement they had with Mardenborough and grant him the long lease or annul the agreement. To date Mardenborough said government has not taken such a decision and he was not aware that the former Democratic Party Executive Council granted a long lease to the Buncampers. He said he learnt via media reports that a long lease was granted and he is now meeting with his lawyer the find out the next step he should take. Mardenborough also provided an agreement he has with the St. Maarten Building Supplies when they retracted their court case. The St. Maarten Building Supplies ended their court case and made an agreement with Mardenborough when they realized that that Mardenborough had the rights to the plot of lands based on sworn statements provided by the personnel of domain affairs and VROM all of which was used in the court of law.
Besides Mardenborough, SMN News learnt other persons filled in parcels of land and they too did not get their long lease or deed to the property but the Democratic Party executive council awarded those parcels of lands to their comrades or party supporters. One such person is Charles Hodge who has been occupying a parcel of land since 1998. John Richardson is the only known person who is in possession of his long lease since 1993 while he received his certificate of admeasurements in 1981.
The Buncampers have a long lease which was granted by government on April 1 2008 for the property located at number 47 Souliga Boulevard. Recently, media reports indicated that the Buncampers sold the property to Eco Green for three million dollars. Already the owner of Eco Green has paid 1.6 million dollars as down payment while he has to pay 90 monthly installments of $18.750.
Lease Agreement Between the Buncampers and Island Government.
Lease Agreement Between the Buncampers and St. Maarten Building Supplies.
Lease Agreement Between Mardenborough and St. Maarten Building Supplies
