St. Maarten considering use
of third party’s weather radar
PHILIPSBURG--The Executive Council is entertaining the possibility of making use of the weather radar of a third party instead of the services of the Meteorological Service of the Netherlands Antilles.
When St. Maarten attains country status, it will be the prerogative of country St. Maarten to decide, United Telecommunications Services (UTS) Chief Operating Officer Glenn Carty told The Daily Herald.
He said the United States of America had shown interest in having weather radar in St. Maarten to obtain data.
Noting that St. Maarten is in the hurricane belt, Carty wondered why it had taken the Meteorological Service so long to have its radar repaired and reinstalled. It took 12 years for the damaged radar to be fixed and sent back to St. Maarten, which is not a good track record for the Netherlands Antilles, Carty said.
He also questioned why the new radar that had been purchased in the meantime had gone to Curaçao, an island not in the hurricane belt, and had not been brought to St. Maarten instead.
Carty said clarity should be given as to what would happen with entities such as the Meteorological Service when the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved. He queried whether the islands will all remain part-owners of these entities or whether they will become entities of Curaçao with the other islands having to pay for services rendered.
