PHILIPSBURG–Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin chaired an extraordinary shareholders meeting with Princess Juliana International Airport this week to discuss the airport reconstruction plan. The airport holding company PJIAH Supervisory Board and management and operating company PJIAE management and Chair of its Supervisory Board were present.
All parties present during this meeting – the Council of Ministers as shareholder, PJIAH and PJIAE – expressed their full support for government’s financial plan for the reconstruction of the airport. Under this plan, US $50 million will be provided as a grant from the World Bank-administered Trust Fund to government, which will be loaned to the airport under favourable conditions. An additional $50 million will be become available as a loan through the European Investment Bank.
The available funding will help to finance the second phase of the terminal reconstruction: internal facility and equipment reconstruction. The planned work will rebuild the entire internal installation, including drywalls, furniture/counters, electrical systems, information technology (IT), baggage system and security installations.
“Today’s meeting was very important to ensure that we are all on the same page. In the presence of the shareholder represented by the full Council of Ministers, all parties in the shareholder meetings unanimously agreed to formalise the financial assistance that will be provided by the World Bank and the European Investment Bank.
“I’m pleased that everyone at the table came together as a team in the interest of St. Maarten and agreed that this is the best financing option to ensure the urgent reconstruction of the airport terminal and ultimately our country’s economy,” the prime minister said.
As part of the Government’s financial plan, the airport will also receive a $15 million bridge loan to resolve its urgent liquidity problems. Prime Minister Romeo-Marlin and Minister of Finance Perry Geerlings travelled to the Netherlands two weeks ago to negotiate a bridge loan to ensure that the airport can continue to pay its salaries and fulfil its other financial obligations in the coming months. Geerlings and Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Stuart Johnson are currently finalising this bridge loan.
Romeo-Marlin expressed her gratitude to all parties for their commitment in securing the necessary funding for the reconstruction of the airport. “I thank all the persons in the community for their patience and understanding during this period and especially our guests, those returning and those coming for the first time. We cannot achieve our goal of rebuilding the airport without your support.”
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/84926-shareholders-fully-support-government-s-financial-plan-for-airport-reconstruction
View comments
Hide comments