~ Says cost overran quite a bit ~
PHILIPSBURG--Owner of the Caribbean Palm building Renald Williams says he wants to dispel any notion of scheming on his part as it relates to the soon-to-be Parliament Building. Williams provided The Daily Herald with a tour of the high-tech building on Thursday to give an impression of the scope and size of the building and what the government and people of St. Maarten would be getting for US $96,000 monthly.
Williams explained that he had five different contractors working on refitting the building in accordance with government stipulations, including the firm "Category 5." He said he was not paying Category 5 US $36,000 monthly for seven years, but declined to delve into contractual details with any of the companies he was doing business with. Executing work on the building are Bergee Electronics, Quality Tech, Jed G Woodwrok, TelEm and Category 5.
He said former Commissioner William Marlin, in trying to explain the differences between renting a fully outfitted building and a bare wall building, probably did not sufficiently communicate the financial details of the project, which had led to some confusion.
During the debate on the building on the floor of the former Island Council on Tuesday, August 24 of last year, Marlin confirmed that the monthly rent was US $96,000 monthly, broken down as US $60,000 for rent and US $36,000 for refitting. According to Williams, Marlin was trying to indicate that the rental price for that part of Philipsburg was a good deal for government, considering land and property values.
Williams explained that the public had to understand that for the US $96,000 he was responsible for maintenance of everything in the building, including providing furnishings and other amenities. In fact, he said the US $36,000 that Marlin mentioned was neither here nor there. "It really has no bearing; it was an estimate," Williams said.
He said he had been approached to prepare the building by October 10, 2010, and that government had requested that he "take care of everything" (a turn-key operation), as a government financing process would have taken too much time and would have lasted longer than the four months it has taken thus far to prepare the building to the point it is at now, close to opening. "And meeting the October deadline was impossible, but we have come quite a long way in record time, even though we are a little late," Williams said.
"Basically US $96,000 is paid to Caribbean Palm N.V. Caribbean Palm is responsible for all the things government signed off on to go in the building. The US $96,000 covers everything. If it runs over then it runs over, and in fact it did run over," he said. He could not provide the exact figure of the financial run-over, only saying "it ran over by quite a bit" when the real estimate was provided.
"It was a hectic time and there was no time to get multiple offers and multiple bids. Something had to be done and it had to be done quick," he said. Regarding the work that was being done on the outside of the building by the company that the son of Marlin is associated with, Williams said at no time did he contract that company.
He said he was faced with a situation where the contractor who was supposed to execute the work on the outside suddenly pulled out of the job. To avoid major delays, he said, he made a separate contract for Category 5, which was already executing refitting work on the inside of the building, to carry out the work on the outside. If Category 5 sub-contracted another company, Williams said he could not address that. "I walk the straight line. I'm concerned with getting the job done. I don't get involved in wheeling and dealing and all that stuff," he said.
The Building
The new Parliament Building (no pictures allowed as yet) is, in a word, expansive. "Many people don't realise how big the building is," Williams said. The building is enhanced throughout with state-of-the-art equipment. From finger-print identification to allow access to restricted areas, to the video and audio system, every detail is covered, keeping in mind modern technological needs of individual Parliamentarians, guests and the media.
The main hall of Parliament has seating for the Ministers (to the left) when summoned by Parliament, along with their support staff. Seating for Members of Parliament is to the right as you enter, with their support staff behind them, while the President of Parliament is seated at the "head of the room" with the Griffier.
The President of Parliament is also equipped with her own monitor that will show whatever the Government Information Service (GIS) cameras are focused on in the room. The audio and video room is fully equipped with the latest equipment as specified by GIS.
The media room is located just outside on Parliament Hall and features connections for every piece of equipment the media utilises and a wide-screen monitor. The general meeting room for the different committee meetings is also fully equipped.
Every Member of Parliament will have his/her own office on the third floor of the building. Also included are a library, an archive room, two kitchens with granite tops, adequate emergency exits and fire equipment. The office of the President of Parliament and Griffier is located on the fifth floor with a view of Front Street and the harbour.
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