This February 26, the port authority of the commercial port of Galisbay organized at the CCISM the inaugural meeting of the preliminary consultation within the framework of the project to extend the port of Galisbay which will be held until April 21.
Ahead of the public meeting open to all and broadcast on social networks in the presence of Bernadette Davis, 2nd VP of the COM, Albéric Ellis, general director of the port of Galisbay, spoke with the press to present the terms of public consultation and the Galisbay port extension project. As a reminder, this extension project is carried out by the port establishment of Saint-Martin (EPSM), commonly known as “Port of Galisbay”. The Community co-seized the National Commission for Public Debate (CNDP) with the port authority on the extension project in order to build a shared vision of the development project and the territorial project in which it is part. Created in 2007 and ensuring the development and maintenance of the port infrastructure, the EPSM is managed by a board of directors made up of 6 members from the COM. For almost 30 years, the port of Galisbay has been a strategic location in the local economy which ensures service to the territory by being the main route of entry and exit of goods to and from the French part of Saint-Martin. By initiating a new expansion project that is both ambitious and feasible, the port of Galisbay intends to free itself from Sint Maarten (quadrupling of container traffic in 10 years), guarantee the commercial sovereignty and autonomy of the French side, adapt to the evolution of maritime traffic, whether it is goods or the reception of medium-cruise boats for luxury tourism and finally, secure access in the event of a health emergency or linked to natural disasters. Concretely, the Galisbay port extension project provides for a draft of 8,1m compared to 5,5m currently by dredging a 9m channel allowing access for larger tonnage vessels (container carriers of 2000 TEU/ Twenty-foot equivalent or 200m liners), to extend the dike by 80m to protect the body of water and extend the existing quay (100m) for a multi-purpose quay of 175m. The creation of additional storage areas for containers and equipment (10 hectares) will be carried out using materials extracted from dredging of the channel. In addition, the extension project, still in the process of changing depending on feedback from public consultation, will provide a terminal with 2 RoRo (horizontal handling) and LoLo (vertical handling) stations in interaction: stopovers can take place simultaneously on both positions. As a result, strong growth of 10% is expected in domestic traffic for the first 5 years and then 2% per year in order to rebalance traffic between Galisbay and Philipsburg. With an estimated cost of €132M (€64M of public funds and €68M financed by the future operator unknown to date) for the extension project, public consultation allows everyone to express themselves on economic issues, environmental, development and territorial sovereignty. _VX
Information and documents available online: https://www.portdemarigot.com/extension
Public consultation schedule
After the inaugural meeting of the prior consultation in accordance with the provisions of the Environmental Code on February 26, several thematic workshops were held this week (overall development prospects in Saint-Martin for its port, environmental issues, how the extension of the port serve the development of tourism in Saint-Martin?). Here is the rest of the consultation schedule, open to all.
March 1 from 17:30 p.m. to 19:30 p.m. at the CCISM: Thematic workshop 4: Impacts on the drinking water plant
March 16 from 11 a.m. to 14 p.m. at Sandy Ground: mobile debate
March 18 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Port of Galisbay: Thematic workshop 5: How does the extension of the port serve the development of trade in Saint-Martin?
March 19 from 17:30 p.m. to 19:30 p.m. at the CCISM: Thematic workshop 6: The cost and financing of the project
March 21 from 17 p.m. to 19 p.m. at the Grand Case Beach Club: Thematic workshop 7: The alternatives workshop
March 22 from 17 p.m. to 19 p.m. at the CCISM: Thematic workshop 8: Cargo port, marina: what articulation tomorrow?
April 12 from 17 p.m. to 19 p.m. at the CCISM: Restitution meeting
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