MARIGOT–President Daniel Gibbs presented his 2019 wishes for French Quarter at the site of the new sewage and waste water treatment station on Wednesday. The innovative station named Organica is to be inaugurated in May, he disclosed and is already functioning.
It was built by the MSE Group which was represented by Thierry Petigant. Also, present were President of the Collectivité’s water, drainage and sanitation authority EEASM, Dominique Riboud and Director of SAUR, the new water distributor and producer, Jean-Marie Giacone.
The treatment plant has a potential to cater to 18,000 inhabitants from Belle Plaine to Grand Case L’Esperance, though currently it processes the equivalent of 9,000 inhabitants, leaving room for expansion in the future.
“The Collectivité and its water authority chose the Organica solution, an excellent treatment system, which will above all enable us to achieve operating savings while complying with environmental standards for wastewater discharge,” Gibbs explained. “The station will be a place of educational discovery for schoolchildren and the general public who will be able to discover this innovative concept of using plants for water treatment.
“Through this initiative, we aim to raise awareness among users and children of the importance of water treatment and the sustainable development of our territory. This is a very promising achievement, because it is intended to attract the curiosity and interest of the population and to enable us as an institution to enhance our environmental policy.”
The plan for this particular area is to have a leisure centre and landscaped park for educational purposes around the development of the new sewage station and around the Pond. The idea is to create a leisure centre whose perimeter includes the sports complex and water treatment plant, as far as the Fish Pond.
A landscaped garden will be created and irrigated with the water from the Organica treatment plant. This leisure park will comprise a community centre, a senior citizen centre, a public park, snack bar, sports and wellness activities. There will also be a playground, picnic areas and a zone for street workouts as well as tables for dominoes, a medicinal plant garden, restrooms and parking lot.
The nautical base will provide visitors with the use of kayaks and paddleboards to discover the Fish Pond. Mountain bikes will be available for off-road adventures. Consultations will begin this year, with the completion of the work scheduled for 2020.
Gibbs disclosed the Collectivité is working on the reconstruction of the Thelbert Carti Stadium and a commissioned architect has provided the first drawings.
“With my Vice-Presidents, we wanted to rethink the entire infrastructure not only to welcome athletes but also to provide local public services to the residents of Quartier d’ Orléans,” Gibbs explained. “Our ambition for this site is to share services with the population, the Maison des Services au Public (MSP) which is under development and is proving to be a great success and to offer a cultural and educational structure for our young people.
Of course, all this will not happen in 2019. The most urgent phase for this year is to make the football field operational again.
“Concerning the Quartier d’ Orléans secondary school, we set ourselves the objective, in partnership with the teams in charge of reconstruction at the National Education Department, of taking the opportunity to renovate/reconstruct this school facility. 5 million euros will be committed to this operation over two years. We are trying to schedule the start of this project for 2019.
“Finally, I would like to renew my confidence in you and announce that the 2019 call for projects for the Contrat de Ville was published yesterday. With my colleague Sofia Carti, we are counting on you this year to be strong in terms of proposals, particularly in favour of our youth and their access to employment or entrepreneurship.”
He noted there are still too many car wrecks in French Quarter and other areas and reminded that the Collectivité’s free collection service is still in place and only needs a phone call to the Environmental Department to have car wrecks removed.
“I want to extend my wishes of health, happiness and prosperity to the people of French Quarter, to our business professionals and the entire population of St. Martin,” Gibbs concluded.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/84740-french-quarter-s-sewage-station-to-be-inaugurated-in-may-2019
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