Development and Construction

The 2.9 Million Nafs Fish Market

It's been over 14 months since the much hyped Fish Market in Simpson Bay was officially opened by Sarah,, the Fishermen were so enthusiastic and happy about it. Total coincidence of course that this was all so close to the elections. This project was to include 17 market stalls, six restaurants, four office spaces and a bar overlooking the lagoon.

Today it stands empty, while Roy may well be right that there areno liens on the property (who can be sure with this govt?), it also appears to be correct that there are no tenants either. Yeah, sure, the fishermen use part of it to sell their catch, but the units themselves are empty and weeds are pushing up through the brick pavements and flowerbeds. Heckofajob eh!

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Submitted by Hady Nufyet on Thu, 2008-06-26 05:33.

Inaction in Action - EWE

Late last week the Today had a wonderful little O & C article about EWE, bringing it back into the public eye. I've been meaning to write a post about it for a while, we are still waiting to hear just what exactly the Govt is doing to follow through on it's two resolutions to preserve the estate. I'd be willing to $100 down on 'not a damn ting'.

The article went into some detail about Henri "I want to be a Millionaire" Brookson's contract with the BV developers and ownership of the estate, something I thought Brookson had already cleared up back on January the 28th, maybe he was bullshitting.

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Submitted by Local Hero on Tue, 2008-05-27 00:27.

Cargo Harbor to move to Cay Bay

Government today announced that a new Cargo Harbor will be built in Cay Bay next to the GEBE power plant. Speaking at a press briefing, Commissioner Theo Heyliger announced plans for the new cargo facilty, justifying the hugely expensive decision to move all of Point Blanche's cargo traffic to this new location as plain old 'common sense'.

"For years I have worked to build up the cruise visitor traffic to our paradise in the sun and the first thing they are confronted with is boxy container ships unloading and big trucks roaring past them on the road to town. It's ugly and dangerous, not the sort of image we want to be presenting to our visitors if we want then to come back again. This is just an extension of my ongoing beautification plans for the island.

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Development and Construction | Hady Nufyet's blog | 7 comments | read more

Submitted by Hady Nufyet on Tue, 2008-04-01 01:11.

Another one bites the Dust.

Jadira Veen reports from the scene....

YouTube Video - Nature destruction at Over the Bank in St. Maarten

NAf. 7,000 fine suggested for destruction of old trees - 27th March 2008

According to reports I have, interest was expressed by the Emilio Wilson Park Foundation via Wilhelm Patrick to save the old house and move it to the park. I am also hearing that what is left may be mostly salvaged. Perhaps the fines can cover this?

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Submitted by Local Hero on Fri, 2008-03-28 16:12.

Marine Ordinance, Zoning and Water Testing

The SXM Nature Foundation was started 11 years ago and one of their primary missions was to establish a protected marine park. Statia Marine Park was also started in 1997 and late last year their Marine Park celebrated it's 10 year anniversary, while SXM awaits the Exco. And waits, and waits...

The marine park ordinance and many other environmental legislation has always been put to the back burner of government. There is also no zoning, back in 1976 the Fed Govt. told every island to start with zoning plans, SXM never started and we are where we are today. The only land that has zoning is Fort Amsterdam, a last minute effort to halt the owners from further developing their land which they bought from the Claude Wathey government. Which shows it can be done, regardless if the land is privately owned. (Like EWE.)

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Submitted by Local Hero on Sat, 2008-03-01 11:34.

A Certain Sense of Impending Disaster in Bel Air

Have you gone to the beach next to Bel Air recently, where you can clearly see the massive amount of excavation done to the hillside just north by Barbaron for its new "development"?

Barbaron has carved out a massive quantity of hillside: my guess is many thousands of metric tonnes of hillside are gone, shipped to somewhere on the French side.

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Development and Construction | Environment | caribsnooper's blog | 40 comments | read more

Submitted by caribsnooper on Mon, 2008-02-25 22:32.

Two new Enviro Videos

Two new videos from SXM have been placed on YouTube recently. The first is an awareness video created by a student which I have given the title "Don't care what people say, follow your own way". The second is a SXM Pride report about mangroves being cleared in the lagoon behind Tropicana Casino.

You can read more about SXM Pride here.

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Submitted by Flipper on Wed, 2008-02-20 18:42.

The EWE Saga - Cont.

So here we are again, the Emilio Wilson Estate back in the news with Henri "I want' to be a Millionaire" Brookson announcing that he is now the owner of the Estate.

So far I have been unable to confirm this, my sources tell me they have not been able to confirm an official record of this sale/tranfer or whatever it is. Considering that the company Henri is fronting for (or is this move on his own?) have lied about purchasing the estate before (1st Jan 06), it's difficult to know what the truth is.

Please join me below for a short stroll down 'memory lane' and to discuss this story.

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Submitted by Local Hero on Thu, 2008-01-31 19:21.

Road across the Lagoon - Visionary or Folly?

The Daily Herald and others have for a long time championed the proposal to build a bridge across the lagoon from the Airport to somewhere near Port De Plaisance and the border. The claim is that is will help alleviate the island's traffic problems, particularly in Simpson Bay and Cole Bay.

Daily Herald Editorial - Lagoon Road/Bridge - 27th December 2007

Bridge over lagoon now being studied - 27th December 2007

What do you think?

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Development and Construction | Roads and Traffic | Local Hero's blog | 13 comments | read more

Submitted by Local Hero on Thu, 2007-12-27 14:01.

See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil- Ignorance is Bliss?

Who gives a damn what we say? Are they listening to us? Do they really care?
Who will they blame next when SXM becomes a country?

It was a pitiful sight to see how our Commissioners behaved before the Dutch? Like the picture above, Roy had his hand over his mouth, Louie had the SXM flag over his eyes and Theo became deaf after he fell in a pothole. The others suffered immediate amnesia.

The headlines below confirm that we are doomed under the Democratic Party.
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Submitted by sybille on Tue, 2007-11-13 17:13.

Dream Dream Dream

The US housing market meltdown must certainly have an effect on SXM´s real estate ´boom´ but of course being SXM there are no reports or reliable figures which can be used to refer to. All we have are rumors and there are plenty of them, some from real estate agents who tell me that sales are lousy right now.

Is it just me or does the lastest mailing from Barbaron have a tinge of desperation in it? I guess there will always be people who hae more money than sense, but I think the pending US economic recession will cut the numbers a tad.

Development and Construction | Local Hero's blog | 9 comments | read more

Submitted by Local Hero on Thu, 2007-11-08 13:04.

Mullet Bay

On September 5th 1995 the flagship resort of St. Maarten was decimated by Hurricane Luis. Since then Mullet Bay has lain in ruins whilst Sun Resorts International (Ansary) and the Unit Owners have fought in court over it's future.
Recent (Aug 06) developments may mean the area will be up for development very soon. Rumors are that Ansari and Sun Resorts want to build multi story buldings along the beach.

Submitted by Caribdude on Fri, 2005-09-09 21:33.

The Environment

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Submitted by Flipper on Tue, 2005-06-14 22:52.

St. Maarten Private Eye