Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
St. Maarten – The government is not aware of any plans for the construction of a waste-to-energy plant in Cay Bay, acting Vromi-Minister Marcel Gumbs said yesterday in parliament. He added that there are no plans for Gebe to invest in such a plant either.
“Negotiations with the selected company (for the construction of a waste-to-energy plant on Pond Island – ed.) are still ongoing and there are no plans for a plant in Cay Bay,†Gumbs said.
The minister said that Gebe buys its fuel from SOL and that this company has a storage facility for a two-week supply. Gebe calculates the average cost of the two monthly orders and then calculates the fuel clause in the first week of the following month.
Gumbs said that Gebe had lowered its tariffs with 5 cent per Kwh for households and 1 cent per Kwh for companies after it no longer had to subsidize the utility companies in Saba and Statia. This measure cost Gebe 3.5 million guilders in lost revenue.
The relief program for seniors Gebe introduced last year went into effect in July and continued until the end of the year. For this program 313 seniors registered and they all received relief. According to the minister, Gebe will continue the program this year. The costs to the company for the first six months were 400,000 guilders. To qualify for the relief, citizens must be 62 years of age or older and be able to show a valid ID card.
