PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot Williams gave members of the media a complete run down on the discussions surrounding the purchase of Emilio Wilson Estate dating back to 2009 at the Council of Ministers' weekly press briefing on Wednesday.
Wescot Williams brought forward the information on Wednesday because the Minister of VROMI made it publicly known via a press release that he sent a letter to the Prime Minister requesting information on the purchase of the Emilio Wilson Estate which is now being discussed in the house of Parliament. Wescot Williams said Minister Lake sent a letter to the Department of Information Management on March 24th, 2014 and he was given a copy of the complete dossier. Further, Minister Lake sent a letter to the Prime Minister on April 14th, 2014 asking for information and assistance. Wescot Williams said her Secretary General dealt with the Minister's request and he was even advised to check with the Secretary General of Government who also has a complete dossier of all the transactions on the purchase of Emilio Wilson Estate which he could peruse.
When asked by SMN News if the Minister made the request after the first meeting of Parliament when he told Parliament that the letter of intent that was signed by former Minister of VROMI William Marlin was not booked in at DIV, Wescot Williams said in the Minister's letter to her he did mention the meeting of Parliament which has been adjourned. That meeting is scheduled to take place on Thursday.
Wescot Williams said in the beginning former commissioner and now Member of Parliament Theodore Heyliger had involved Carnival Cruise and Rainforest Adventure whose plan was to develop part of the estate to accommodate cruise passengers.
Wescot Williams said that the first draft letter of intent was prepared by former Minister Franklin Meyers and it was rejected by the owners of the Estate. She further explained that in 2012 the Government of St. Maarten decided to go ahead and took a decision to purchase a large part of the estate (some 370 square meters of the property) even though they were awaiting an advice as to how they would get the financing for the purchase. Wescot Williams further explained that when this was made known, Carnival Cruise objected to the decision the Government of St. Maarten took claiming they were not informed.
Wescot Williams said that government will develop a part of the property when it is purchased, but further stated that no decision has been taken on how much of the people's patrimony will be developed or not developed. Wescot Williams further explained that while government has taken a decision to purchase the property and they have decided to comply with the decision of the court, the Government of St. Maarten still has to take several decisions regarding the property which includes developing parts of the estate. She also made clear that government did not decide if the harbor will be investing in the development. When asked by SMN News if the Government of St. Maarten has ruled out Rainforest Adventure or Carnival Cruise in the investment plan of the Emilio Wilson Estate, Wescot Williams said that such decisions have not been taken and no one has been ruled out. On the issue of appealing the decision that was rendered by the Court of Instance, Wescot Williams said that government has decided to appeal the verdict even though they have agreed to purchase the property. When asked to further explain why would government appeal the decision or which parts would be appealed, Wescot Williams said that some parts of the decision are technical and furthermore they felt some of the concerns of the government were not considered.
MP Laville's MOU Presented to Council of Ministers.
Prime Minister confirmed that the Minister of TEATT Ted Richardson presented the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was discussed by Member of Parliament Romain Laville with the Prime Minister of Dominica. Wescot Williams said that even though the Minister presented the MOU to the Council of Ministers they cannot take a decision on it immediately. Wescot Williams said the MOU was given to the various Ministers whose Ministry will be affected by the MOU in order for them to study it and to return to the Council of Ministers with an advice as to how they should proceed with the draft MOU.
Unions Objecting to TELEM Merging with UTS.
The St. Maarten Telecommunication and Post Union presented a letter to the Prime Minister asking for information on the merging of TELEM with UTS. Wescot Williams said she did receive a letter from the union and in their letter they indicated that they are not in agreement with the merging with UTS. Furthermore, the union also indicated that they do not have any confidence in the negotiating team. Wescot Williams said that the union also indicated that they wanted to be involved in the negotiation process. She said that the committee that has been negotiating was appointed prior to 2010 when St. Maarten obtained its separate status. She said even though she is the shareholder representative she made it a point to stay out of the partnering process because she did not want any type of semblance of political influence. Wescot Williams further explained that some seven companies showed interest in partnering with TELEM.
She said she is informed periodically but the details she does not have. The Prime Minister said that she heard that a letter of intent has been signed between UTS and TELEM but she does not have that letter as yet. She said she was informed by TELEM that they were close to signing an agreement. She called on everyone not confuse the two issues with UTS since the Government of St. Maarten is a minority shareholder of UTS. She said it was proposed that St. Maarten be paid out it shares but that too came with another option that St. Maarten becomes the owner of the operations of UTS St. Maarten. That she said was not accepted by UTS but St. Maarten did table that option.
She said due to the restructuring process TELEM incurred a huge debt because of the social package.
