PHILIPSBURG-- Infrastructure Minister Theo Heyliger broke ground on Tuesday at one of the locations where one of three new storm water pump facilities will be stationed to handle flood water in the Philipsburg and surrounding areas.
Two of the new pumps will be located in a new pump house to be constructed at the Public Works work yard on Pond Island, and the third will replace the current pump in Sucker Garden. The first two pumps will be capable of pumping a maximum of 24,000 gallons of water per minute, and the third up to 50,000 gallons of water a minute.
When signing the NAf. 4.6 million contract with Smaal N.V. a few weeks ago, Heyliger stated that the primary goal of the project is to provide Sucker Garden, around the pond, Pond island and the Philipsburg area with a suitable and reliable storm water pumping facility within a relatively short period.
Heyliger said, "Although it is not ideal to be breaking ground in the middle of hurricane season, government has to contend with rules and regulations and had to wait until the 2011 budget was approved by the CFT [Committee for Financial Supervision-Ed.] before anything could be done."
He said that although he would prefer to spend 4.6 million on education and the like, protecting the community and in particular the capital, was of utmost importance considering the island's recent experiences with flooding.
The minister went on to commend the government personnel who keep the current pumps running, and singled out the late James Marlin who he said, "Kept St. Maarten safe for over 30 years."
Consultant and advisor to Smaal N.V. Willem Barendsen gave his assurance that the company would use local contractors on the project.
He encouraged schools and the community to make an effort to visit the project when the two main pipes are being welded together, he explained that a special welding machine, with a specialist, will be brought in to weld the major piping together, and that this would be quite an experience for the population to be part of.
Barendsen also told the gathering of an old tradition in Holland when the churches rang their bells when water levels were high. He presented Heyliger with a symbolic alarm bell, not to run around the island and ring, but rather as a gesture from Smaal in the effort to mitigate flooding with the new pumps.
The pumps will be manufactured overseas, and following that phase, the contractor will have 100 working days, after a mutually agreed upon starting date, to install the pipes and the pumps. The Sucker Garden pump will be the first to be installed as this area is priority.
It is expected that all pipes will be in place in three to four weeks when work starts. This will be followed by the construction of the building and basins. Two separate locations were selected for the pumps since moving water from the Western part of the salt pond to the Eastern side is always a challenge, because of the shallowness of the water and the fact that there exists minimal surface to run the water over.
Head of Maintenance at the Ministry of VROMI Claudius Buncamper said that with the start of the pump project, government is guaranteeing that all drainage water in the Great Salt Pond can be transported quickly to the sea.
"With the present upgrading of the various trenches in the various neighbourhoods, and the upgrading of the floodgate at the cottage roundabout, the movement of the run-off water will be able to be done smoothly," said Buncamper.
"With the additional upgrading plans to hard surface waterways, the transporting of the water from the fresh pond to the salt pond and into the sea must be guaranteed, and this will become reality once the pumps are operational in February 2012," he added.
Buncamper closed by thanking the engineers and personnel at VROMI who worked on the project, especially Olivia Lake, Davis Lejuez, Alfredo Pantophlet, chief diesel mechanic Marvin Brown and Edelmiro Jansen.
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