The Bottom, Saba: Leader of the Democratic Party of Saba Mr. Dave Levenstone said that he is very much annoyed to see the state of the official residence of the Lt. Governor of Saba located in The Bottom.
As we all know ever since the present Lt. Governor assumed the position in 2008 he has not been able to live in this house not because of any faults of his but the deplorable state that the house was in. All sorts of plans and drawings has been made up in regards to the renovations of this official resident and to date absolutely nothing has been done to put the reconstruction and upgrading into motion. It is a shame and a disgrace that up until now nothing has been done to at least have the house ready for when 10-10-10 comes around in order for the Lt. Governor to be able to move into the house. What also makes it very ridiculous is that several months ago the Department of Public Works where there and removed the roof structure and made the necessary preparations to have the work carried out.
Levenstone said that it is a total disgrace and shame to see the state of the house and it is an eyesore in the eyes of the local inhabitants and also the many tourists that has to pass that area on a daily basis. I assume that the taxi drivers are sick and tired of having to explain tourist about this white elephant.
Levenstone went on to state that more and more you can see the total neglect of the Central Government on Saba especially ever since Saba started to hold direct talks about becoming a public entity of the Netherlands. This house belongs to the Central Government of the Netherlands Antilles and it seems as if they do not care about it and this forces the Lt. Governor to still have to make use of his own personal apartment in the Windward side. The Lt. Governor should be living in an upscale dwelling where he can entertain his many guest at times, a dwelling with swimming pool and Jacuzzi should form part of the official residents. This is a total lack of respect on the part of the Central Government towards the Queen’s representative on the island. The Central government has had a surplus in their 2009 budget and with that money they could have at least made a start in having the Lt. Governors dwelling repaired and improved for him to be able to live in his official dwelling. It is no wonder people have lost total disrespect for the Central Government.
Saba is not the only island of which the Lt. Governor’s residences are looked at as not being important, and the Central Government prefers to have to pay huge amounts for rent for the Lt. Governor’s.
With Saba becoming a public entity it is my strong believe that the entire structure should be bulldozed down and start from scratch with a beautiful dwelling for the Lt. Governor after all the position warrants a modern and well structured residence and this white elephant should be put to rest. If nothing is done within short it will become a goat barn on the island if it is not already. We got to say thank God we don’t have any people on the island looking for place to sleep at night because it is not even in a condition to hold anyone.