Oranjestad- Interim island-Governor Julian Woodley today signed off on the agreement which was closed between local government and oil terminal NuStar a few months ago.

The Governor -at first instance- refused to sign the agreement, which also led to criticism from the side of the Dutch Government as they felt that, without the Governor’s signature, there was no legal and binding agreement.

The Hague also voiced some other objections as to the contents of the agreement with NuStar and asked the State Attorney to look into the contract.

The agreement with NuStar means quite some additional -and much needed- income for the local Government of St. Eustatius.

Commissioner Charles Woodley told the BES-Reporter this evening that the Executive Council regretted that the process was drawn out much longer than strictly necessary. “The State Attorney indicated some issues with the original agreement, after we had agreed to have him take a look at the text of the agreement”.

According to Woodley, the government in Oranjestad was able to take away all major concerns relatively quickly. However, it took quite a few months for the final nod of approval to be given.

The signing of the contract by the Governor means that at least one area of potential conflict between Oranjestad and The Hague is now out of the way. It also means that local government is now fully assured of the additional income generated based on the new agreement.

Commissioner Woodley indicated that local government is working with NuStar on a new project for the island, but that at this point it was still too early to provide details about this development.