"Dutch St. Maarten annually receives 800,000 cruise ship passengers," said Commissioner of Tourism Theo Heyliger. To deal with this many visitors and with growth projections of one million cruise arrivals by 2004, a $65 million cruise jetty and Welcome Center are being built.

Financed more than 10 years ago, the plan is finally being put into action with a projected soft opening of August. Heyliger explained that the early opening is to accommodate the arrival of a new cruise line to St. Maarten - Disney. The complex will open officially on Nov. 11, which is St.Maarten/St. Martin Day (commemorating the sighting of the island by Christopher Columbus on Nov. 11, 1493).

The entire project encompasses both a cruise and cargo objective. Fernando William, managing director of the Sint Maarten Harbor Holding Co. explained the scope of the two projects. "The cruise aspect of the project will cost $43 million and the cargo project is a $22-million expenditure."

William noted that St. Maarten is currently the fourth leading cruise destination of the 25 to choose from in the Caribbean. "In the past eight years we have never been lower than sixth," he proudly noted. To maintain and even better its standing, the island government realized the time had come to aggressively establish itself for the future.

"After the project is complete, we are positioned to be the preferred cruise ship destination in the Caribbean. This will spin off into the overall economy of the island," noted William. Employment opportunities will be generated for people in other sectors of the economy that aren't associated with the project, such as taxis, stores and even tender services.

Leo Chance, chairman of the Sint Maarten Port Authority said, "The cruise terminal building is designed to be hurricane-proof and is constructed on piles. The ground floor provides facilities for the cruise passengers such as telecommunication, restrooms, post office and future banking facilities."

Offices for the SMHHC and SMPA will be on the second floor. Tour and cruise line operators will be able to lease space here as well.The complex is designed in Caribbean-style architecture. Tourists will be able to choose organized island tours via buses and taxis, or duty-free shopping via water taxi or on foot via the boardwalk.

"I see this project as increasing cruise calls by 50 percent with the availability of four ships per day at the pier. This facility could account for as much as 70 percent of the tourism income for the Dutch side," said Chance.

Both the cruise facility and cargo port were built from the reclaimed land of dredging for the cruise jetty and cargo port. The facilities are built to withstand Category Four hurricanes. The cargo port will have storage capacity of almost 115,000 square feet, which is an increase of 75 percent.

"This small island in the Caribbean offers what any port in the United States offers, but on a smaller scale. We maintain pollution-free waters. As a combined cruise and cargo port we undergo rigorous inspections by U.S. security as well," said Sonny Hoo, managing director of the SMPA.

With the new expansion, Hoo will have more space to store 20-foot and 40-foot containers used to supply the island with its products. The increased draft will also allow Panamax vessels of 50,000 metric tons to now dock at the cargo facility. Hoo pointed out that the potential of the port to be used as a transshipment hub to other islands in the Caribbean is tremendous.

"Transshipping bulk products from a larger port to other islands on smaller boats is big business," he said.

Geoff Thomerson, owner of GLT Construction, NV, is very confident in the strength and safety of the new facilities. "This is the highest quality-control project on the island," he said. Thomerson established his company specifically for this project. As a subcontractor under Ballast Nedam, GLT Construction is one of the companies responsible for pouring 120,000 cubic yards of concrete for the breakwater and the offices of the cruise terminal building.

Holland's Ballast Nedam International is the main contractor of the harbor development. It designed and is constructing the new cargo quay and the new cruise pier, which includes the cruise terminal building. Consulting is provided by Witteveen and Bos/CEC. Landscaping and structure design is provided by two Florida based companies - Scott Architecture and Ivey, Harris and Walls. Many local companies are involved in subcontracting with Ballast Nedam.

"We do all activities on land including the paving work and pre casts for the jetty. Ballast Nedam does the pile driving and overall design," said Jan Aben, managing director of Windward Roads, NV. "The overall development for tourism will be tremendous. You will have one million tourists coming into that area," said Aben.

The cruise terminal is financed 70 percent by the island government and 30 percent by the government of the Netherlands.