Besides the concerns of GEBE and the lack of a building permit, the owner Reynold Williams is also having some serious problems with the fire department since they refused to approve the building based on the fire department standards. One of the concerns of the fire department Minister Heyliger said is the glass doors on the upper floor which is not one hour fire resistant.
The fire department also wants the owner to have a separate and bigger meter from GEBE. Due to the concerns of the fire department, two fire department officials showed up at the building on the April 28th 2011 to stop the opening of the building claiming that the building does not meet the standards of the fire department. Members of Parliament intervened that day and managed to have the proprietor sign an agreement with the fire department promising that he will make the necessary changes before the opening of the building could have taken place.
In an invited comment the proprietor Reynold Williams said that when he got the contract from government he approached the fire department with the building plans and they approved the plans which they stamped, a copy of which he said he has. "Now the fire department wants me to change the GEBE meter which is not my jurisdiction. Right now, Parliament is running on a meter that was designated for Caribbean Palm Stores and we have since added more air conditions, electronic doors as well as all the equipment that GIS uses for its recording and broadcasting of meetings live. Government is the one who has to request a bigger meter but the GEBE bills are not in their names because the building permit is holding up the process." Even though Government has full access to the building since the beginning of the year Williams said he is the one that is paying the electrical bills because he is billed for it, but his intention is to turn over the bills this coming month to parliament so they can begin paying their bills now that the official opening of the building was done. As for the glass door that the fire department said is not fire resistant Williams said the glass wall and door has certain security mechanisms in place which will allow the Members of Parliament to get out of the building should there be a fire. He said nowhere else on St. Maarten has security like that of the Caribbean Palm building. Williams said the building is five hours fire resistant since there are double sheet rock walls on the outer and inner sides of the buildings while the doors are an hour fire resistant. He said he has no problems removing the glass door and wall and replace it with fire hazard door and sheet rock walls but the Members of Parliament are not in favor of that because that will create a separation in parliament and the different factions. Williams said the fire resistant glass door and wall the fire department is requesting is non-existent in the United States and Europe so a decision will soon have to be taken as to whether the wall and door must be changed as requested by the fire department. Besides that, the building has sprinklers inside and each section has water hoses which are installed and ready for use. Should there be a fire, the fire department does not have to take their hose inside the building Williams said.
Asked why it took so long for him and the contractors to complete the building knowing that he promised government that the building would have been completed and ready for 10/10/10, Williams said he began negotiations will government in July 2010 and he made some verbal promises during those negotiations but he only received the actual contract from government in September 2010. Williams said one must know that he had to take that contract to the bank to obtain the financing which also took time and the inclement weather last year played a vital role in the delay.
Based on the information SMN News gathered from all parties on Friday and what we witnessed during the power outage it is clear that some persons in government are busy stone walling the procedures to get the new parliament building fully functional. It appears as though politics seems to be playing a major role while the people's business is stalled and elections have long gone.
