Development of Marigot bay: priority is given to medium-sized cruise ships

The territorial council has once again discussed the development of Marigot bay on Thursday morning. In 2015, the elected officials had approved an ambitious project, before launching a concession procedure for the development of the bay in 2016. Guillaume Arnell, who was then vice-president, had assured that many were the candidates willing to invest in Saint-Martin. However, no tender has been submitted to the Collectivité to take over the project.

«The tendering procedure proved to be unsuccessful. Although the development of Marigot bay remains essential for the economical development of the island, the failure of the tendering procedure shows that the program has to be redefined », says Daniel Gibbs. The new president, who had already made this project a priority during his 2012 campaign, is determined to bring it to completion. «We will complete this project, and we will invest what it takes» he assured. «I want to act quickly, so that it does not turn into a broken election promise» he assured

Today, Daniel Gibbs wants to carry out the project in different steps, the first one being to encourage medium-sized cruise ships. «This positioning, which will turn Marigot into a base port and will showcase the attributes of the French side, will benefit from the dynamism of this market segment, while meeting the demand from operators» he announces.

Furthermore, the president wants to instruct the port (a satellite of the Collectivité) to review the project and carry out the relevant studies. It will be awarded a 100,000€ grant to fulfill this task.

The elected officials for the territorial council were invited to validate the president’s three wishes (priority given to medium-sized cruise ships, instruct the port to review the project, and award it a 100,000€ grant). The majority voted in favor, the four members of Alliance (MJP + Hope Party) abstained and Alain Richardson voted against. He does not want the executive council to be in charge of the project’s conception, and considers that the territorial council should be in charge for it.