Price tag was higher than reported
PHILIPSBURG--The Methodist church has declined the offer of the Island Government of St. Maarten to construct a chapel in Belvedere.
Superintendent Minister Charles Seaton said in a press statement Thursday that the church deeply regretted the prevailing circumstances that had given rise to much conflict, controversy and divisiveness. He said these circumstances "have brought the good name of the church into disrepute."
He added: "In light of the aforementioned situation facing the church and the community as a whole, the Methodist church, St. Maarten circuit, respectfully declines the offer of the government."
However, Seaton stressed that the church remained committed to its original intention of constructing the Belvedere chapel on its own.
What is unclear is how Government will proceed from this point. It already has signed contracts with Taliesin Construction to carry out the work and with Pream NV to provide site and quality supervision, and preparatory work has already been executed.
The decision can be nullified, with Government compensating the two companies for work already carried out. The church could also opt to assume responsibility for the contracts, but the companies would have to agree to this with their initial contractual partner the Island Government.
The actual price tag for the Methodist church the Island Government had planned to build was NAf. 538,220 – higher than initially reported – and the funds would have come from the 2009 budget, more specifically, from two budget posts of the Tourism Department's budget.
Via a budget amendment, monies had been moved from the tourism budget to the budget for drainage maintenance. Funds to build the church ultimately would have come from the latter, with NAf. 350,000 originating from the Latin America advertising budget, and NAf. 188,220 from the Latin America public relations budget.
The advice from the Finance Department of Government reportedly included a memo indicating that consideration of the contractual obligations of the tourist office should have been considered. The memo allegedly also gave legal advice on the project.
The Executive Council had also reportedly been advised against the project, considering the absence of an appraisal report of the church, and the questionable practice of taking monies from the tourism budget for a project that had nothing to do with tourism. The concerns and objections of the Finance Department began in October 2009 when the Island Government proposed the project.
Controversy surrounding the government's intention to build the church raged for almost three weeks, with the public questioning daily why Government was spending public funds for this purpose. Government maintained that the action served as compensation for an oversight committed by the administration.
However, questions still remained, considering that Government was within its right to stop the renovation of a structure in Belvedere by the same church group that had not secured a permit to carry out the work.
Additionally, the price tag of more than half a million guilders was questioned because the renovation work carried out by the church group had reportedly cost about US $50,000.
