Judge to decide next week on Welfare Road work suspension

August 04, 2011 12:29 PM

PHILIPSBURG--A judge in the Court of First Instance will decide next Wednesday  whether to allow the closure of Welfare Road to take place as scheduled on Monday, August 15, or to suspend the start of the work as requested by some businesses along Welfare Road.

The businesses filed an injunction claiming that financial damages would be incurred when the road was partially closed to facilitate the ongoing drainage and sewage project.

Attorney Camiel Koster, representing two of the businesses, said the injunction had been filed on two main premises: government has not provided the businesses with enough information regarding the project, leaving them very little time to take measures; and a provision for compensation should be in place if damages exceed what is called the “acceptable range” in such infrastructure projects.

Koster explained that government had met with the businesses only this past Monday, after it had announced publicly that the plans to close the road in its entirety had been changed to the closure of only one lane; a change that as yet has to be officially published via government notification. Despite this, Koster said his clients wanted the work suspended until a proper plan was in place.

Koster also argued that the so-called “equality principle” should come into play in this case. He said that while the whole community would benefit from the project, his clients would suffer damages, perhaps irreparably, due to the closure of the road.

He stressed that his clients were not against the project and understood its importance, but were of the opinion that government had not prepared properly.

Attorney Richard Gibson Jr., who is representing government, said government obviously did not share the businesses’ position. He said the businesses had made unsubstantiated claims of damages.

He said, “If the businesses feel unduly encumbered, and on that basis feel they should receive compensation, this was no reason to ask for the work to be suspended altogether. The businesses did not present one piece of documentation to support their claims of damages. Work on such an important project cannot be held up for something that has not happened.”

Gibson explained that all citizens must understand that when government is executing a project for the greater good, there are inconveniences they simply have to endure.

He said the civil servants at the Ministry of VROMI had accommodated the businesses on Welfare Road by finding a way to keep the road partially open and that even with this partial opening, the work would be carried out in phases along the stretch of the road.

He said contractor Windward Roads had assured in court that bridges would be constructed and fortified for a business such as Texaco, to allow fuel trucks to make deliveries.

Windward Roads also stated that it would execute test runs with trucks to ensure that the bridge and its fortification can carry the weight of the trucks with enough space to manoeuvre.

Texaco Cole Bay is one of the companies protesting the road closure.

A number of the businesses that initially protested the road closure withdrew their claims after government announced that the road would remain open for traffic coming from the Simpson Bay/Airport area towards the Kruythoff roundabout.

(Source: The Daily Hetrald Sint Maarten)

4 August 2011

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