PHILIPSBURG--Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Grisha Heyliger-Marten has expressed concerns about information she received concerning the reconstruction process at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA).
Heyliger-Marten said she has been informed that certain contractors conducting work at PJIA are awaiting payments totalling US $300,000.
“Information reaching my office alleges that the reconstruction process of one of our national gateways is marred by gross non-performance, mismanagement, and negligence,” Heyliger-Marten stated in a press release issued on Monday.
Heyliger-Marten said she has been informed that Ballast Nedam, being the main contractor, has assigned Sustainable Development Consulting BV (SDC BV) as the main contractor to remove the debris from the demolition process. However, SDC BV has not paid the local companies subcontracted to remove the debris for over a year. This has allegedly resulted in a total of US $300,000 in outstanding payments to date.
Local companies affected by this include Full Hundred Trucking, All Waste In Place, and SM Green Diamonds NV. Additionally, the representative of SDC BV is said to have stopped communicating with its subcontractors and instead contracted another company to remove the remainder of the debris.
“Needless to say, this is an unacceptable situation that needs to be urgently addressed by the management and shareholder’s representative of PJIA,” Heyliger-Marten stated.
“In addition to the outstanding payments, the approval process to store material leaving the construction site to be separated, shredded, and recycled was put on hold because proper research into the designated storage area was done incorrectly. As a result, the Ministry of VROMI sent out a legal notice stating that the materials should not be stored at the residential location in Cole Bay. This stopped the process of removing the debris, during which time the contractors could not conduct the work. Containers with harmful chemicals and solid waste collection bins sized 10 cubic meters and 20 cubic meters were then used to store the materials without approval until a solution for payment was found. All of this caused delays in the reconstruction process,” according to Heyliger-Marten.
She expressed hope that both PJIA and government urgently look into this matter, explain what has been going on, and how this situation will be resolved.
