SXMElections.com

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The Democratic Party is very proud of Minister Lee for his efforts to making the development of a new hospital a transparent process. Member of Parliament and Leader of the DP Sarah Wescot-Williams is pleased that the people of Sint Maarten will now be able to receive the needed healthcare services they deserve in addition to reducing referrals abroad which will also keep money circulating in our economy and allows loved ones to be with each other during their medical treatments.

The announcement of the winning bidder on Sunday August 2nd signals the start of building the long awaited new Sint Maarten General hospital. Even though quality health care will be the biggest gain for the country, DP MP Sarah Wescot-Williams stresses not to forget secondary gains of the project. “The new hospital will create more jobs, enables attracting specialized care and preventing the need of going abroad for that. Just as important, the transparency of the process itself rises HOPE for rapidly enabling new projects on behalf of the people too. Transparent bidding processes allow Sint Maarten to put funds to better use to work on highly needed jobs, safety and infrastructure projects for example. Minister Lee through his open and transparent approach was able to save approximately USD 50 million of the people's money. Under the former Government's proposed hospital project of USD 105 million that was not placed on a public tender, St. Maarten could have built two hospitals or further invest these savings into our people. If we were able as DP to fuel this process with one seat and one minister, just imagine what the possibilities will be when we do it with a larger amount of both after the elections?”

"Public works by nature are expensive projects. By saving on those, we earn back money we can invest in our people, especially those that most need it. As for the DP, there is still a journey to take regarding for example creating more jobs, improving our infrastructure, creating better safety and affordable homes for our people. By keeping processes transparent and hence speedy, we can realize more for less money, and all the sooner.”

As a former chairman of the Caribbean Hospitality and Trade Association, responsible DP minister Lee can’t help but stress the fact that money saved could be used for marketing the country too. “Attracting new generations of tourists, cruise liners and operators will feed our tourism-based economy again. We could use the money saved by transparent bidding processes for that, as well as to diversify our economy, all providing new jobs and income.

The process of open bidding is a showcase how transparency is not just a value, but can actively make money for the people”. The nominated bidder INSO will commence contract negotiations this month and construction is scheduled to start the third quarter this year. Whilst the original estimation of the decision was only at the end of August, working on the project providing affordable healthcare for all might start even sooner than expected as Minister Lee and the awarding team sped up decision making process.

The bids were the result of a highly transparent process, which interested citizens were able to follow from beginning of this year onwards. Out of the 12 bidders, 5 were selected however only 3 made the deadline. The bids were received on the 21st of July, in presence of the awarding team representing the VSA Ministry, SZV, SMMC, project leader KPMG and engineering consultant Royal Haskoning DHV. Safeguarding transparency, the bids were delivered at the Tjon A Jong and Associates Civil Law Notary office in Philipsburg. Adding to the integrity of the approach, all original bids will be guarded by the notary to prevent discussions in the future. “As all steps were done together with a notary , it allows for the people of Sint Maarten to hold those in office accountable for their deeds, resulting in a more stable and accountable government”.

The DP cordially congratulates the winning party. Whilst the three high quality bids provided, made it a difficult choosing process, the winning bid stuck out on price and quality.. As the other remaining bids held high quality too, Minister Lee will remain in contact for possible new tenders.

Another positive lesson for the future, the MP states, is the way the ‘tripartite’ of stakeholders responsible for the development of the new General Hospital, the Ministry of VSA, SZV and SMMC successfully cooperated in the fair process. Stakeholders cooperating as a team in such a speedy process allows for great things to come for the next years of Sint Maarten’s future.