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POINTE BLANCHE--St. Maarten Harbour group of Companies Chief Executive Officer Mark Mingo relayed his perspective on an ongoing court case against Dock Maarten via press release Sunday, claiming a Government-granted concession is in his favour and tying the success of the port to the national economy.

St. Maarten Harbour Holding Company (SHHC) is fighting Dock Maarten's plans to construct a marina with a pier to accommodate ultra- and giga-yachts (see related front-page story in The Daily Herald on Saturday, November 29).

"I have no comment on Mr. Mingo's statements. History and facts speak for themselves," Dock Maarten Managing Director Brian Deher said in an invited comment.

"Port St. Maarten must protect its interests on behalf of the country, the people, the shareholder and agreements with stakeholders and financial institutions," the headline of Mingo's press release reads.

Concession

Mingo was quoted as saying that the port would "not stop any plans from any local or foreign developer," but that Dock Maarten must respect concessions given to the port "11 July 2007 where all waters in Great Bay were designated a concession area except for private harbour facilities that already existed at that time."

The concession "gives the Harbour exclusive rights, and this is part and parcel of all the agreements that Port St. Maarten has with its partners. This gives guarantees to the financiers and government and stakeholders. The concession is not 'free.' There is also a concession fee which needs to be paid for those rights that have been given to Port St. Maarten.

"Dock Maarten has to work within the confines of the concession and still be able to carry out its plans, but on a different scale where it does not infringe upon the national economic interests."

Mingo said the giga-yachts could be considered small cruise ships, which translates to direct competition. "The port's master plan entails the extension of the cruise pier and home-porting programme of small cruise ships."

Mingo asserted that the port had been living up to its part of the concession since July 2007, having made payments of NAf. 5.2 million along with other taxes to the treasury and more than NAf. 35 million in government concession fees alone.

'Sustainable Development'

Mingo said, "Dock Maarten's dredging of the bay could have serious consequences with respect to waves in this particular area."

When the news of Dock Maarten's expansion broke, Deher told The Daily Herald that environmental impact studies, including the project's effect on water quality and water flow, and wave studies had been carried out by Delft University in the Netherlands and by St. Maarten Nature Foundation.

Deher also said that being environmentally-friendly was on the forefront at Dock Maarten, as it is at Isle de Sol, where he serves as General Manager and which has earned the Blue Flag certification.

Mingo however, remains sceptical about this. "You have to take into consideration the existing water taxi movements back and forth, yachts manoeuvring in Great Bay and around cruise ships within the maritime channels, the security and safety aspects come into play," Mingo said.

He mentioned cruise passenger road traffic and having this diverted to the waterside for aesthetic and safety reasons, a vision also shared by Deher in the same interview.

"You cannot have ad hoc development, but must carefully make sure it all complements each other," Mingo said. He added that the port was trying to spread economic development, citing the investment of US $2 million in the Down Street cruise ancillary project slated to open in January.

Dock Maarten's lawyer Roeland Zwanikken had called SHHC a "wolf in sheep's clothing," saying it pretended to champion the environment, but had hidden agendas.

"I will not dignify or comment further on that," said Mingo, who called this statement surprising.

"Port St. Maarten has always championed a clean environment," he said, "... back from detailed studies of the construction of the port facilities over the last 14 years to the introduction of clean technology, to the acquisition of the Lagoon Authority SLAC, to the improvement in the lagoon environment, green harbour alternative energy projects, replanting of mangroves and partnering with Nature Foundation. ... Port St. Maarten's track record speaks for itself."

The master plan "is being developed in conjunction with CH2MHill, a well renowned engineering company with much experience in this field which entails defining solutions to the floodwater runoff of the Ponds and the parking and traffic challenges in and around the Philipsburg area. ... Port St. Maarten and its subsidiaries are solutions oriented and driven."

The port "has a clear strategy and will lead as written in its strategic plan," Mingo said. He asserted that the port had "asked to review the plans of Dock Maarten on several occasions but this never happened."

Zwanikken said in court that the port had known about the plans, which date back to 2001.

'Ahead of the game'

Mingo further asserted that he had a responsibility to his shareholder, the Government, to ensure the national economic interest was protected and that the port had to "stay ahead of the game in the interests of the people" and the shareholder.

"Port St. Maarten generates one third of the national economy of the country and this translates into millions in foreign exchange earnings" that were described as having a wide spin-off effect and employing thousands.

"Our innovativeness and forward outlook has made Port St. Maarten one of the major ports in the Caribbean and one of the top five cruise destinations," he said.

The press release further cited a 2012 Business Research and Economic Advisors (BREA) study as saying the average expenditure per passenger and crew member was $185.40 and $135.50 respectively, benefiting numerous local industries through the purchase of goods and services. BREA also was quoted as saying that the direct and indirect employment generated translated to 8,123 jobs and $159.8 million in employee wages.

Some 1.7 million cruise passengers were brought to shore in 2013.