Who to blame for the Slow Recovery of PJIAE?
The World Bank and the Dutch Government representatives should be ashamed of the length of time it takes, and the stringent procedures placed on St. Marten to make things happen. The vice President of the World Bank for Latin America and the Caribbean, Axel van Trotsenburg, made that very clear when he expressed the urgency necessary to get moving with this project.
The Dutch government keep making demands of St. Maarten in order to access this money made available at the World Bank, to the point where the Financial Institution (World Bank) is now advising PJIAE management to work “triple shifts” if necessary, to ensure work beings. Do we really need him to remind us of the urgency?
This article is a direct interpretation of a press release issued by the Airport after a working visit to PJIAE last Thursday May 20, 2019, by the World Bank. The strong words of advice to the airport managing board in the presence of PJIAE CEO, Mr. Brian Mingo, the Honorable, Minister of TEATT, Mr. Stuart Johnson, the Managing Board of the Princess Juliana International Airport, Members of the National Recovery Program Bureau, the representative of St. Maarten to the Steering Committee of the World Bank Trust Fund, the Director of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau and members of Kingdom affairs (BZK) of the Netherlands, All important stakeholders; was that this project is way past urgent.
The Air Port CEO Mr. Mingo says the critical need to get the airport back up and running because of its role as the heartbeat of the economy is as clear as the need for the $100 Million loan being provided by the World Bank and European Investment Bank (EIB) for the second phase of the restoration program. According to Mingo, Trotsenburg’s comments were not only heard loud and clear but fell perfectly in line with his own views and convictions. Mr. Mingo says meantime, he will continue to look for ways to speed up the process to ensure the newly reconstructed Airport is unveiled in 2020, with the introduction of triple shifts if that is what it will take.
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