PHILIPSBURG--At the request of Statia Terminals, negotiations to reach a new agreement with Statia's government will start May 12 and not today, Monday, April 14, as originally planned.
Lawyer Suzy Romer, on behalf of her client Statia Terminals and her co-counsel of the law firm Holland & Van Gijzen in Holland, part of the Ernst & Young alliance, asked head of the negotiating team lawyer Roland Duncan last week for postponement of a month because of time constraints.
Both the director of Statia Terminals and the lawyer from Holland have to fly in for the negotiations and April 14 was a bit short notice, said Romer on Sunday. She lawyer also requested to have the meeting outside St. Eustatius. She proposed Miami or St. Maarten.
The reason for requesting a change of venue, Romer explained, is because the matter affects an island and once that is the case, there can be "a lot of cumbersome" situations that "take away focus." The fact that she requested a "more neutral" venue is "nothing new," she said, as Committee Groeneveldt, a former negotiating committee, also had a meeting in Miami.
Head of the negotiating team Duncan said he was "somewhat disappointed" that the negotiations wouldn't take off today. "We were all ready, the oil expert from Trinidad (one of the team members, ed.) was already here. We are eager to start, because we need to get a contract that's beneficial to Statia as soon as possible."
Duncan said the current situation, whereby Statia Terminals was still paying an amount set many years ago, was "unacceptable." To Statia this contract is "very important," also because Statia Terminals is the largest employer on the island, he added.
About the request for a change of venue, the lawyer said personally he had no problem with it. His client, however, does. "Government is insisting that the meeting is held in Statia. They feel very strongly about it and have stated that at least the start of the negotiations should be here," he said.
Both members of the Executive Council would have to be there, as well as members of Statia Terminals' management, Duncan pointed out.
Asked for comment, Lt. Governor Eugene Abdul said that personally he had no problem with having the meeting on neutral territory. "As a lawyer I can understand the reasons for that request," he said.
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