Rainforest Adventures
~ A higher price than other such cases ~
PHILIPSBURG–Rainforest Adventure Park pays NAf. 428,635 per annum in long-lease fees to government for the land it occupies for the park.
Rainforest Adventures has a parcel of land in long lease with an area of 357,196 square metres (m2), for a canon (long lease fee) of NAf. 1.20 per m2. This was part of the information Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Minister Miklos Giterson shared with Members of Parliament (MPs), while answering questions during the continuation of an urgent public plenary session on the situation regarding long-lease (“Erfpacht”) land in St. Maarten last week.
Giterson said the amount of canon per m2 depends on the purpose and location of the land. The total amount of the canon is also dependent on the size of the land.
As it relates to Rainforest Adventures, Giterson said less than five per cent of the land that is issued to the park in long lease is being used for development. The allowable development on the site is for an eco-adventure and nature park.
Rainforest Adventure Park has the obligation to cooperate with St. Maarten Nature Foundation for the realisation and management of a nature park on a section of the project site; St. Maarten Archaeological Centre SIMARC for research and preservation of any archaeological artefact that may be of cultural historical significance on the project site; St. Maarten National Historical Foundation for historical significance and preservation of monuments on the project site; Emilio Wilson Cultural and Historical Park Foundation for the development and management of Emilio Wilson Cultural Park on the adjacent property; and Emilio Wilson Estate Foundation.
The price being paid by Rainforest Adventures is comparable to the new residential long-lease canon in certain areas in Cul de Sac that are provided with infrastructure and are allowed to develop, for example, 50 per cent of the total parcel of long-lease land. The price per m2 is significantly higher than that of the large majority of the existing long-lease cases.
While the possibility exists for the government to increase the lease cost of government land, government has never independently done this with existing long-lease cases. The new lease canons, which were established about 20 years ago, are only imposed on new cases of long lease, or in the event of a request for a change of purpose or subdivision of land of an existing long-lease parcel, Giterson explained.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/90101-rainforest-adventures-pays-naf-1-20-m2-for-leased-land
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