PHILIPSBURG:--- The Board of the National Alliance acknowledges the press statement by Honorable Minister Maurice Lake on the Waste to Energy Plant and we are happy that Minister Lake continued along the same line of former Minister William Marlin. However, knowing the modus operandi of the UP Party, we would like to know what stagnated the process. Upon leaving Government we had already concluded all the interviews of the 4 companies that were picked from a total of 7 companies. A decision should have been made the end of June 2013. The timeline of Cabinet William Marlin had this project beginning construction in August 2013 and almost finalized by now. We hope that this is not a case of waiting until election time to reveal something hoping to gather support on Election Day.
As is well known, this WTE project was very dear to Minister Marlin and Mr. Kendall Dupersoy his advisor who is a well known environmentalist on the island. Mr. Dupersoy upon leaving office made it known that all negotiations for the project were more or less completed and the new administration would only have to make a final decision on choosing the best option, both environmentally and financially.
Seeing the length of time that it has taken to make what amounts to a simple decision, Team Alliance would like the Minister to stand behind his words of transparency and explain to the general public how the financing for this project will be realized. Under the direction of former Minister of VROMI William Marlin, the financial structure of the over 100 Million Dollar project would come with no cost to the people of St. Maarten. As a concession would be granted to the winning bidder and an agreement signed with GEBE to purchase the Energy at a reduced rate. As a matter of fact, the structure would lead to a significant reduction in utility bills. It would be a Win Win situation for sure.
Team Alliance, on behalf of the entire population of St. Maarten, requests additional information on this project as we too are very concerned with the situation at the sanitary landfill. What kind of agreement is the Minister about to sign? Are the people of St. Maarten going to be saddled with another huge loan or will the financing method of former Minister William Marlin be followed which would have led to much needed relief in our utility bills and a lowering of the cost of living on St. Maarten?
TEAM NATIONAL ALLIANCE
#SXMFIRST
