Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
MARIGOT--The Executive Council voted at its most recent meeting last week for sixteen more surveillance cameras to be installed on the French side, as well as four cameras that can read number plates on cars.
The total cost of the cameras, installation and the necessary infrastructure work amounts to 4,281,357 euros. The project has been awarded to the company GETELEC.
The Executive Council also authorised the President to sign off on two lots of office and school furniture to be provided by Cariburo.
In addition, the President signed and confirmed the engagement for the rainwater management study in Belle Plaine that will be undertaken by the companies SAFEGE and Independent Consulting Engineers (ICE) N.V., financing for which has been provided by Interreg Caraïbes. The project ultimately aims to reduce flooding in Belle Plaine by the building of water retention basins.
In other decisions, pricing for services has been set for users of the Territorial Archives who wish to make copies of documents. The use of the reproduction of archival material is subject to a legislative and regulatory framework in respect to intellectual property and the re-use of public information.
The tariffs defined in the Executive Council will be applicable as soon as the archives library opens, the inauguration for which is on Monday, December 8. The rates range from 30 euro cents for a simple copy in black and white to 25 euros for printing a high definition (HD) file. Students and pensioners can benefit from a 50 per cent reduction. Rates also have been established for fixed image editing (book, CD-ROM, DVD, video and multimedia).
The Council decided to give the homeless shelter of St. Martin "Manteau de St. Martin" a grant to help carry out its charitable missions to persons in difficulties. The shelter provides day care, accommodation and counselling, but has experienced financial difficulties in maintaining its operation. It also manages the Centre d'Accueil et d'Hebergement d'Urgence (CAHU) created in 1998. The amount of the grant was not disclosed, but is in addition to the subvention donated by the State.
On the advice of the commission on employment, learning, inclusion and vocational training, the Council assigned an Aide Individuelle a la Formation (AIF) of 800 euros and five exceptional aid-to-training payments for a total of 2,452 euros to job-seekers or paid workers in precarious situations who have projects for which they need a training course to become qualified to enter the labour market.
Second Vice-President Ramona Connor was voted unanimously by the Council to substitute for President Aline Hanson at the Commission Nationale d'Evaluation des Politiques de L'Etat en Outre Mer (CNEPEOM).
The six Councillors voted the order of the day for the next Territorial Council meeting that will take place on December 18. The agenda is: adoption of the urbanism code, a financial guarantee to Semsamar, modifications to the 2014 budget, examination of the Tourism Office budget for 2015 and examination of the Collectivité's draft budget for 2015.
