PHILIPSBURG--Minister of Infrastructure Theo Heyliger said on Monday that Parliament and the public must understand that government is doing its utmost to improve what ails the infrastructure of St. Maarten, most of the time with a limited budget and natural challenges that affect the progress of projects.
Heyliger faced infrastructure-related questions in a plenary session of Parliament that focused on everything from potholes to the planned causeway over or through Simpson Bay Lagoon.
Although he did not have an opportunity to answer questions due to a lack of quorum in Parliament, Heyliger gave The Daily Herald some insight into some of the answers he will be providing to Parliament whenever the meeting is reconvened.
Members of the opposition National Alliance (NA) queried Heyliger on the state of Back Street and Front Street, the progress of ongoing projects in various districts, running sewage water, plans for the landfill and even how he was going to deal with the midge infestation, although the latter is primarily a task for the Health Department.
The ring road especially received added attention, with the opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) asking about its progress and, in particular, whether land had been awarded to individuals and/or companies. This issue surfaced in 2010 during the NA/Heyliger coalition with various reports about certain types of businesses being identified for the ring road.
The issue of maintenance was also a focused discussion point, with MP William Marlin stressing that government should stop looking for new projects without having the ability to maintain what was already there. Marlin said the minister too often treated certain projects as a ?station pass�? leaving them to degrade while starting new ones.
His comments were echoed by other MPs, including those of the governing coalition who lamented the dilapidated state of some projects and roads, and urged the minister to ensure that certain guarantees are in place. Marlin also questioned Heyliger about the Emilio Wilson Estate plans and how involved he was in those plans.
Democratic Party (DP) MP Leroy de Weever said any filling of Simpson Bay Lagoon should be done with great care as this, in his opinion, was the last ?bit of inland waterways? that had not yet been destroyed. De Weever, like other MPs, also asked who was going to execute the causeway project.
Ring road
Several questions directed to Minister Heyliger concerned land that had been given out around the ring road. Heyliger confirmed that land had been issued to institutions that serve the community, such as the Mental Health Foundation, and certain persons. He said that while he had no problem providing Parliament with the information, as minister he would not divulge people?s private business on the floor of Parliament.
He said the ring road had created jobs to the tune of approximately US $1.7 million for the truckers who had transported sand from the dredging for the second pier at the harbour. He said government had commissioned a traffic study, an environmental study and a water capacity study for Great Salt Pond, which had been reported on in the media.
The project, he said, ?is a massive one? that will require creative ways of financing considering ?the budget for VROMI is one of the smallest annually.?
?But I would challenge anyone to show me if anything was done in an illegal manner,? he said.
District projects
Heyliger also said that a number of projects would continue in 2012 and some changes had been added to the plans of certain projects, like Cole Bay. He said the designs in Cole Bay had been adapted to include additional water catchments to protect the main road. He said government would be putting in these catchments to ?catch? water for which it is not responsible, referring to private sewage systems. ?But we have to protect the road. This was one of the reasons why the road [Welfare Road, ed.] is not completed as yet,? he said.
As for other ongoing projects, such as Middle Region, Heyliger said while residents ?were cursing me? a few months ago, some were now willing to give up even more of their property to accommodate the amenities in that district.
?In fact, I think the norms and standards that were applied in Middle Region should be applied island-wide,? he said, adding that he would elaborate on those norms and standards to Parliament.
An additional five million euros will be spent in Dutch Quarter around the middle of the year to upgrade the inner areas and ensure proper sewage facilities are in place.
Potholes, Back Street
While all Parliamentarians lamented the state of the roads with potholes, the minister said government had spent NAf. 2.4 million in 2011 to fix potholes. He admitted that St. Maarten lacked proper drainage and sewage systems, and said he had been adamant about providing the island with what it lacked.
Heyliger said it was one thing to sit back and identify what the island was missing, but quite another to actually do something about it, ?and we are doing something about it with these projects.?
He said Parliamentarians could invoke the ?people pay road tax? argument, but the public was under the wrong impression if it thought that all of the road tax monies went into maintaining roads.
?Actually, only about 20 per cent of the road tax collected goes into roads. The rest goes into social affairs, health, education, the total overall budget of government. I agree that if we?re going to make people pay for services then they should see the improvement of what they are paying for, but this is the reality we are in,? he said.
The poor state of Front Street and Back Street, Heyliger said, has the attention of government, with replacement of Front Street bricks ongoing, but Back Street proving to be more problematic. He said government was in discussions with contractor Windward Roads and was of the opinion that the company should absorb the cost to fix the road.
?They are of a different opinion and so it continues. When it comes to guaranteeing the projects none of them (contractors) live up to the standards they should be doing as a company. But we have just two main contractors that do this work.
?Many of these things come down to money and financing. ? This is why I?m a proponent of the transfer of GEBE shares so that GEBE can do these things on behalf of the country. We have government companies in this country that can do these things for our people.
?The onus should not only be on government. The pension fund, for example, is 100 per cent guaranteed by the government of St. Maarten, but yet no money is invested in St. Maarten. These institutions must understand their role in developing St. Maarten,? Heyliger said.
The minister also said that in 2011 government had to contend with a year with record rainfall that hindered the progress of many of the projects.
Causeway
MP William Marlin asked Heyliger to confirm that a ?barge of piles? to be driven for the causeway through Simpson Bay Lagoon had arrived on island. Heyliger denied this and said the only barge of steel he had seen was that for the expansion of the Statia terminal.
?There are no piles ordered for the causeway,? Heyliger said.
He added that the project is part of the overall master plan for St. Maarten?s road network, which Marlin had approved when he was a member of the Island Council. ?He, as Commissioner of Public Works, started one of the first links, Link I, approved in the whole master plan. So if you pass that link you can?t tell me that all other links are not part of the master plan,? Heyliger said.
He clarified that a public bidding had been held for the causeway project, negotiations had been conducted with the potential contractor, but no contract had been signed. An environmental impact study and a traffic study have been commissioned and conditions laid out in these studies will be adhered to and/or applied in the preparations and execution of the project.
The minister said he had ?lots more? to share with Parliament with regard to all the projects mentioned.
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