IC presentation and question meeting on April 26th 2010 from the DP Faction

1. Was the present tender procedure used for the public tender of February 2008 not correct and if so please explain what transpired leading to the present course of action whereby the Island Council is requested to ratify the decision of the Executive Council?

2. Who approved the initial public tender procedure that has been followed thus far? Please indicate which legal bases was used?

3. Did the department of judicial affairs provide a legal opinion on the tender procedure followed back in February 2008, if this is the case please provide the Island Council with this legal opinion.

4. Please inform the Island Council who (and their expertise) sit in the advisory committee that reported their findings to the executive council in the evaluation report of the public tender?

5. Which companies participated in what is referred to by government as the expression of interest that was published in the local papers?

6. Which four (4) qualified companies based on the selection criteria were to be invited by government, to request for a proposal in a tender procedure for the solid waste facility?

7. Why didn’t a combined venture with the French side materialize to process garbage?

1. Waste reduction to 95%;

2. Cost reduction;

3. Environmentally good;

4. Consequences of energy from waste for Gebe’s power production;

8. Is the waste reduction really going to be 95% of the total garbage produced on this island, because in paragraph 1.4  in the description of the operation of the SWMPF that doesn’t seem to be the case, considering that there will be no sorting of any garbage that doesn’t go through the C&D (construction and demolition) plant?

9. Is there any recycling taking place and if so where will this take place in this plant?

10. How many persons will work in the processing facility? Will it provide considerable employment and if so on which levels.

11. The cost reduction will be found in which area for the consumer as presently we aren’t paying for garbage collection and I would believe that we must pay in the future for garbage collection and processing?

12. How much will this garbage processing facility cost the public of St. Maarten per year?

13. How much will the facility cost to build and who’s financing that?

14. Have any conclusive studies been done by a reputable company that ensures that there are no environmental flaws with this facility or that would at least give us a credible impression of the environmental impact?

15. Have the local environmentalist like Rueben Thompson and his colleagues been able to give their input in this document from an ecological point of view?

16. What does it mean for GEBE’s personnel in the power production plant when I read that about 8 megawatts will be produced by the garbage processing facility? Will there be job cuts down there as they need about 12% less electricity to be produced?

17. Will the purchase of Green energy by GEBE lead to at least a 12% reduction on the bills of the consumers when it comes to the fuel clause?

18. Will government still have to subsidize the new garbage processing facility in any form or fashion once it’s operational? If yes why and for how much?

19. The reduction of the green house gases by 70.000 ton CO2 per year means anything with respect to savings for the consumer or is that an environmental savings?

20. What financial consequences does changing the amount of BOS (Batch Oxidation System) – trains and adding of shredders have towards the gross and net service fee and in particular for the end consumer?

21. What exactly is the scope of works of KEMA for the island government with reference to the SWMPF (Solid Waste Management and Processing Facility)?

22. Was there a public tender for the services of KEMA? If yes please provide these documents?

23. If there was no public tender for the KEMA services why isn’t it part of this request for approval from the island council as is the requested for HBN and KPMG?

24. Who will evaluate the work of KEMA to ensure that they are the appropriate experts for this project?

25. When will KEMA start their work and how long will it take?

26. Why has it taken 5 months for a selection to be made of KEMA as the Terms of reference for services of an independent cost quality controlling engineer for the SWMPF in St. Maarten was done on November 10, 2009?

27. The advice of VROM states to investigate 2 locations to carry out garbage processing. One on Pond Island for the purpose of landfill mining and one in Colebay for the processing of regular waste. Is this advice going to be followed?

28. What are the cost involved towards the consumer and government to have 2 locations operational at the same time for garbage processing and garbage mining?

29. Where in Colebay is it the intention to have this garbage processing facility considering that not much land is available to handle such a facility and in the elucidation of VROM it only mentions the Bell’s land, filling the sea behind GEBE or the relocation of buildings on GEBE’s land?

30. Has the drafting of the model agreement for the sale of electricity already been signed by GEBE? If not why not?

31. In the proposal of HBN Law the fee of Naf 226.500,- is tied to various conditions. One of them is that no services shall be provided in the period after June 30, 2008. What exactly does this mean as the proposal only came in on November 18, 2008 to the government?

32. Has HBN Law done any work for government already based on this strangely dated proposal and if so what exactly and at what cost?

33. Has any payments been made to HBN Law for any of the services provided in connection with the proposal at hand that now approval is being requested for here in the Island Council? If yes is this in keeping with good financial governance as stipulated by the law?

34. What is the total HBN Law contract going to cost the island Government?

35. Has GEBE agreed to an amendment to their general terms and conditions as is needed for the legal frame work so that HBN Law can make the proposed amendments?

37. One of the services rendered to government will be to provide support with the evaluation of the proposal selected by the advisory committee. Was that done and what was the outcome of their evaluation?

38. Why did it take the government 17 months to bring the proposal of KPMG to the island council floor for approval knowing that they were the company of choice based on their past experience in the harbor?

39. What is the role of the cabinet of the Lt Governor in this whole process?

40. Has the Lt. Governor’s cabinet provided an opinion on matters related to the tender and if so what was it?

41. Does the Cabinet of the Lt. Governor have in house technical and environmental expertise with respect to Waste Management? If yes we might be more cost efficient if we used these expertise.

42. Are there any other opinions from entities mentioned or not mentioned that might be relevant for this debate? If yes please provide these to the Island Council.