MARIGOT–Ten months after Hurricane Irma, the foundation stone for a new 2.4-million-euro transitional Préfecture was laid late Thursday afternoon during a ceremony held on the parcel of land where the new building will be erected, opposite Collège Mont des Accords in Concordia.
The former Préfecture building on Fort Louis hill was completed destroyed during the hurricane.
Préfète Déléguée Anne Laubies, completing her final official function in St. Martin, and Préfet of the Region of Guadeloupe and Inter Ministerial Delegate for Reconstruction of St. Martin and St. Barths Philippe Gustin, both signed the official agreement for the project, before the document was placed in a sealed tube and dropped into a hole drilled into the symbolic foundation stone, an ancient rock which will be kept and placed in the centre of the new building’s foyer.
The building is to be a temporary structure until the French State deems the time is right and financially affordable to build a permanent building in St. Martin. Up to now services of the Préfecture have been housed in temporary pre-fabricated buildings in different locations.
Now all the services of the Préfecture will be housed in the one building. They include Directorate of the Environment, Planning and Housing (DEAL), Directorate of Food, Agriculture and Forestry (DAAF), Directorate of the Sea (DM), and Directorate for Enterprise, Competition, Consumer Affairs, Labour and Employment (DIECCTE).
The new building will be composed of high-quality modular structures capable of withstanding high-intensity winds and earthquakes. There is a total of 30 pre-fabricated modules on the upper floor and 30 on the ground floor. The total surface area is 1,120 square metres. Parking will be available for 64 cars. Two separate entrances are in the plan, one for the public and one for foreign services. The building is expected to be open to the public from the beginning of October 2018.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/78361-first-stone-laid-for-new-transitional-prefecture
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