PFP faction says New TEATT Minister confused…
PHILIPSBURG – In a press statement issued by Party for Progress members of Parliament Melissa Gumbs and Raeyhon Peterson; they both shared concerns about the “100 days in office” plan that the recently sworn in Minister of TEATT, Mr. Leo Lambriex, announced over the weekend. In his first press release as Minister, Mr. Lambriex focused on a previously dormant plan to widen the Simpson Bay bridge, which he said would “allow larger mega, and so-called giga-yachts,” access to the Simpson Bay Lagoon.
“This priority project, (as the Minister puts it), is contradictory,” says Gumbs. A Government cannot claim to care about the environment, sustainability and climate change and then have the widening of the bridge as a priority project. The bridge was last widened when we were still the Netherlands Antilles; this helped, of course, to allow for the current mega-yachts to enter the lagoon. But even that came at an additional cost.”
The PFP faction highlights, that after the bridge widening had been completed, a few years later it was followed by the dredging of the Simpson Bay Lagoon. This, according to PFP, is their primary concern; while the Minister did not mention dredging of the lagoon in his press statement, anyone paying attention can see that newly announced and already-on sale developments will be adding marina space that will require dredging to allow these vessels to reach their docks. In fact, the faction states, the simple mention of allowing access to giga-yachts means that widening the bridge goes beyond safety concerns and maneuverability. The faction hopes that the new Minister will be forthcoming about any accompanying plans attached to this proposed bridge-widening project.
The PFP asserts forcefully that “We have our priorities mixed up.” “The mega-yachts are paying extremely high fees to dock in the lagoon at the various marinas, yet the country seems to get nothing out of it, nor has the lagoon been maintained properly with these fees. The priority should be to fix all of the water rights issues by first collecting the outstanding fees within the lagoon, to perform a full environmental check on the status of the lagoon and its floor, and to begin focusing on cleaning the lagoon in its entirety, before we even think of expanding the bridge for even bigger boats to start coming in.”
The faction states, they plan to monitor future statements regarding this proposed project, and will question the new Minister of TEATT and the Minister of VROMI on plans that were meant to revitalize the lagoon, rather than place further environmental stress on it.
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