Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake on Tuesday in response to insinuations made by St. Maarten Pride Foundation to the media, that he has followed procedures afforded to him as a member of the Council of Ministers and the laws and regulations that govern country Sint Maarten.
The work being carried out Minister Lake pointed out has been approved according to the master plans of the airport, and that these plans did not just drop out of the air.
Minister Lake pointed out that land reclamation for the expansion of the airport has always been communicated where it relates to zoning, and has been communicated in two town hall meetings (2012, 2013), stakeholder consultations, and will continue on Tuesday evening in a public hearing with the Simpson Bay community and followed by public review.
"Let me present some facts to the people of Sint Maarten. From the very day I took office as Minister to serve the people of this country, in my back to basics approach, I have been open and transparent to the people and will continue to do so until my tenure comes to an end.
"The St. Maarten Pride Foundation was well aware of the Airport project. This is not something new to them. Under the National Alliance led Government in 2012, Pride and EPIC environmental groups were involved in meetings related to the filling of the lagoon or the so-called proposed land reclamation; the environmental impacts of the future use of the proposed land reclamation, which was part of the Environmental Impact Study (EIS). Documented, is that Pride and EPIC are listed as organizations that were consulted among seven other stakeholders for the EIS.
"The EIS process that Pride and EPIC took part in was part of the process provided for public consultation in the form of stakeholder meetings in order to ensure that important environmental issues were not overlooked and that the scope of the EIS was sufficient to identify all potentially significant environmental impacts," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Tuesday.
With respect to the permit for the activities currently taking place, Minister Lake stated: "Last year as Minister I first stopped the transportation of the sand because permission was not given as the harbor was executing on the premise that the airport would get the permit.
"Since this is a government related project of national economic interests, and the permit process takes some time to complete, as Minister, it was within my ministerial parameters to make an exception and to authorize or to give in writing permission to be given pending the finalization of the permit. Prior to doing anything, I seek legal advice and follow the procedures in finalizing whatever needs to be done in the interests of the country, and I have a paper trail that can back up the steps that were taken," Minister Lake said on Tuesday.
With respect to the boundaries of the reclamation of the Simpson Bay Lagoon for the airport project, Minister Lake assures the Sint Maarten people that the filling is being done according to the plans in place.
"I have been informed by Lievense Consulting Engineers who are monitoring and supervising the current filling of the Lagoon near the causeway round-a-bout, that it is within the bounds, secondly, Lievense Engineers also stated that the filling is being done with clean sand from the sea and therefore a silt screen is not required," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake explained on Tuesday.
"As Minister, I fully believe and support sustainable development of our country. The zoning process underway will guide the future sustainable development of our country. I know this is an election year, and some of those in the environmental movement have political ambitions and basically this is a political game that they are playing. You knew about the project from 2012, why now in 2014, an election year, you come out with guns blazing and making insinuations and allusions?
"If none of them are running in the upcoming election on a party list, please come forward and inform the people that this is the case. I find it strange to come years later to question the project as if you are was not involved in the process. This is very hypocritical, and the people can tell the difference between true environmental activism and a political charade. Everything in the dark comes to light," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake concluded on Tuesday.
PHOTO CUTLINE: Minister Hon. Maurice Lake.