fbpx
Published On: Tue, Jan 31st, 2017

Messy story

The conflict between the Harbor Holding Company and Dock Maarten is a prime example of the complexity of our laws.

Dock Maarten holds the right of long lease to water parcels in Great Bay but as it turns out now, it is not free to do on these parcels what it wants. At least, that is for now the position the Court in First Instance has taken.

The dispute is not over yet, as Dock Maarten has to provide the port with relevant information about its expansion plans. The company wants to make its marina fit for mega yachts and it has already built a so-called rock revetment for it.

After the harbor receives the relevant information, two things could happen. The harbor could decide that Dock Maarten’s plans do not hinder its concession rights and let it go. It could also go the opposite direction, claiming that Dock Maarten’s plans are such a hindrance to the port activities that everything has to go.

In that second scenario, we are back in court and then the court will have to take a final decision.

It is understandable that Dock Maarten feels befuddled by the whole messy story. After all, it has the right of long lease and it obtained a building permit from the government. What more do you want?

The harbor threw a spanner in the works, claiming that Dock Maarten should have asked its permission before doing anything. But because management of the two companies does not see eye to eye – to put it mildly – none of this happened.

Dock Maarten assumed that, with the building permit in place and the right of long lease firmly established, there was nothing the harbor could do to thwart its plans.

The court has now indicated that Dock Maarten had a duty to inform the concession holder for Great Bay – the harbor holding – about its plans.

True or false, we figure that this opinion came as a bit of a surprise. But if anything went wrong at all, Dock Maarten is not the sole party to blame. What about the Ministry of Vromi that issued a building permit without even giving the slightest hint: watch out, there is a concession agreement for Great Bay with the harbor?

That could have saved everyone a lot of aggravation. Maybe the harbor and Dock Maarten would have come to an amicable agreement years ago; and maybe the harbor would have nixed the expansion plans.

Right now, quite some court cases and invoices from attorneys later, the case is approaching a decisive stage. It’s do or die for Dock Maarten and the fate of its plans seems to be completely in the harbor holding’s hands.