United Democrats (UD) leader Theo Heyliger no doubt raised a few eyebrows by proposing US $50 million from Hurricane Irma recovery funds be used for Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) to start rebuilding the main terminal (see Monday paper).
After all, although government-owned, it regards an autonomous company responsible for its own finances and the facilities obviously had to be insured.
However, there is clearly a dispute with insurance firm NAGICO that may end up in court, which could take quite a while. As the Member of Parliament (MP) correctly pointed out, St. Maarten to a large extent depends on stayover visitors for its livelihood and simply can’t afford to wait that long.
It is indeed crucial that the airport maintains its regional hub function which helps bring in flights, and returns to normal by the time many of the island’s major resorts now still closed reopen their doors. The latter will no doubt prompt an increase in the flow of airline passengers to the destination.
People ought to keep in mind that the intention is to not to just give the money to PJIA, but rather provide a so-called “soft loan” with favourable conditions pending the insurance settlement. The suggested close involvement of the Netherlands and the World Bank ought to remove any concern over possible misappropriation of means made available by the Dutch Government.
There was also much criticism earlier this month against Sunwing asking for $43 million to reconstruct its recently-purchased Great Bay Beach Resort and the Maho Group $12 million to do the same with Sonesta Maho Beach Resort and Ocean Point. Granted, the requested packages with several additional far-reaching conditions seemed like a lot to ask, but the importance of getting these hotels and other guest accommodations back on line should not be underestimated either.
Executing social relief and infrastructure projects to improve the tourism product as well as pump money into the local economy is one thing, but without the necessary rooms to put more “heads in beds” again the country’s structural income will remain way down. Actively engaging private sector partners in the hospitality industry to seek speedy joint solutions is therefore no luxury.
