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PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday, June 3rd, the Minister of VSA, Honorable Omar Ottley, joined Dr. Felix Holiday, Director of St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC), and Ms. Erika Van der Horst at St. Maarten General Hospital (SMGH) Operations Contract Manager to witness the 530 cubic meters pour of concrete for sections 4 and 5 of the foundation. The pour represented a significant step in the progress of the SMGH project.
Over the past six years, there have been concerns about the lack of progress on the project. Minister Ottley recently took to the media and informed the public that while he completely understands their grievances with the SMGH project over the recent years, he can only account for the time that he has been the Minister of VSA.
The Minister provided the public with a progress report of the project from his time of oath-taking on April 21st, 2021 to the present. I will be the first to admit that the project is not moving at the pace that I would like it to, but I am doing the best with the hand I was dealt. I can confidently say that in my year and two months in office, the project has seen far more progress than all the previous years combined.Ottley stated.
Minister Ottley has scheduled mandatory quarterly meetings with SMGH stakeholders, where deadlines are established and expected to be met. In a previous article, the Minister announced that the pouring of sections 4 and 5 would take place at the beginning of June 2022. Although the pour was 3 days later than originally predicted, the Minister was happy that it took place.
The next pour for sections 6 and 7, is scheduled to take place the last week of July 2022. This will be the final pour to complete the foundation and is expected to surpass the recent pour of 530 cubic meters, which totaled over 60 trucks of concrete.
