GREAT BAY, St. Maarten — Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication, Grisha Heyliger-Marten, has announced that the groundbreaking for the new Marketplace will now be held here next week.
The ceremony was postponed due to the passage of Tropical Storm Ernesto on Tuesday.
The storm, which packed winds of about 60 mph, destroyed the tarpaulin covered stalls the vendors were using while waiting to be moved to a pavillion that was being erected at the location of the old Government Administration Building.
“My heart really goes out to all the vendors affected by Tropical Storm Ernesto. Not only were their stalls destroyed, but several also lost their wares,” said Heyliger-Marten.
“We will relocate them this Saturday to the pavillion that’s being set up for them. This should have been done already but we encountered some technical glitches with the pavillion,” said the Minister Heyliger-Marten.
The minister unveiled the artist’s rendition of the new Marketplace, explaining that the new design incorporates the overall vision for the beautification of Philipsburg, for which the Marketplace is considered the flagship.
Cruise calls will resume on Friday, August 16, 2024, after the interruption caused by TS Ernesto, which resulted in no business for the market vendors practically since Monday. That’s more or less a whole week without income for them. It must be really hard and we’re looking into what can be done to provide some relief for them,” Heyliger-Marten said.
