Philipsburg:--- Deputy Prime Minister William Marlin who is also the Minister of VROMI admitted that he stopped signing off on the deeds of long lease land that were issued to several persons by the former Minister of VROMI Theo Heyliger. Marlin made the statements on Wednesday during the Council of Ministers' weekly press briefing. The Minister of VROMI said that the leader of the United Peoples Party and former VROMI Minister attacked him on a particular program and he felt it necessary to respond. Marlin explained that he was called by a notary to sign off on a deed and he went and signed the document and even congratulated the person who was given 2000 square meters of land in St. Peters. Marlin said that a few days later he was contacted by the siblings of the late Godfrey Richardson. Marlin said the land that Heyliger gave to another person had been occupied by the late father of Member of Parliament Hyacinth Richardson for a number of years and that family has been using the land for agricultural purposes.
The VROMI Minister said that the 2000 square meters of land that was taken from the Richardson family is even fenced in and it was given to someone that worked for the former Minister of VROMI and leader of the UP. He said after that someone else got another 2000 square meters from the same property and he refused to sign off the deed simply because the Richardson's has been using and occupying the land for a number of years now and they too had submitted a request for the land and it was never granted to them. In another incident, Marlin said one Lee Halley from Simpson Bay requested from government years ago for water rights in Simpson Bay where he operates his boating business, but government never handled his request instead they granted the water rights to someone else who is not even from St. Maarten. Marlin said Halley is a local St. Maartener who then had to go to the person government gave the water rights to and leased it from them so he could continue his business operations.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that in 1999 when he took office he tried to regulate the matter by making a deal with the person who the government at that time gave the water rights to and the parties agreed because his intention was to have the person give Halley the part he is using and government would have compensated him with more space on the other side. Marlin said while he gave instructions for the resolution and deed to be drafted up it was never done because government changed shortly after. He said when he returned to office in 2009 Halley approached him again to see if he could get the owners of the water rights to make good on the agreement they had in 1999 but that person handed over his properties to his son and the son is now saying that he knows nothing about the agreement and they want Halley off their property. Marlin said he is still trying to find a compromise with the property owners because soon there will be land available when the ring road is completed.
Marlin said while he refused to sign off on the barrage of deeds the former VROMI issued one week before he left office, he has solid reasons for his decisions. Marlin said the former Minister also signed off additional water rights to the same family while Lee Halley still did not get any for his business. He said he did not sign off on it and just recently government got a letter from a lawyer giving them a certain period of time to sign off on the deed or they will take government to court. He said so far he has not responded to the letter and neither to sign off on the deed. He said one of the things that he is worried about is what is right, or what is legal. He said he is troubled that a local St. Maartener cannot get something from government to continue his business.
Tunnel Vision living its own life.
The Minister of VROMI also refuted some of the comments that are being made on the streets and within the community about his vision of the tunnels that he wants to construct to alleviate traffic from Cole Bay after the construction of the causeway.
Marlin told reporters that while these are his thoughts and a possible solution for the traffic congestion that will be created in the Cole Bay area, so far no decision has been taken and the studies for the tunnels are being done. He said tunnels are nothing new and several places around the world have tunnels, it is time St. Maarten elevates itself with technology.
Dutch Quarter Road to be Paved --- Homes will be connected to main sewage.
The VROMI Minister announced that he signed off on an advice to upgrade the A.T. Illidge road, Dutch Quarter Main road. Marlin said several weeks ago they decided to repair the road but now he signed off on the advertisement for contractors to bid on the project to upgrade the A.T. Illidge Road, Dutch Quarter road. During this major upgrade Marlin said drainage will be installed and homes in the area will have the possibility of hooking up on the main sewage line of government. He said the upgrade will include asphalting of the main road and sidewalks will also be built.
