KRALENDIJK- It may have been quiet around the controversial design of the Sunset Beach Resort in recent days, but the problems are by no means solved. This is wat ABC Online Media understands this from discussions with various parties.

Although the mediation attempt is still in full swing within the Executive Council, insiders point out that fundamentally nothing has changed in the application and the specifications of both the entire structure and its components remain controversial.

Architect Rene Jacos says when asked that, despite all the other noises, the resort just doesn’t meet the requirements on several counts. “The buildings are too high. That in itself would not be a problem, but in this specific situation it would be, because the buildings are at a minimum distance from the plot boundaries and form an obstacle for both neighbors. Moreover, almost the entire plot will be filled with buildings that are too high,” says Jacobs.

According to Jacobs, the distance between a few spiral staircases and the plot boundaries is also far too small. In addition, the buildings are too close to the water and there are far too few parking spaces for the buildings and the activities that will take place on the site.

Quality

However, the objections from an architectural point of view, as expressed by Jacobs, are not the only objections to the Resort. The plans clearly go against the official policy, as passed in the Island Council, that hotels should have a maximum of 100 rooms. The design of the Resort is now based on about 250 rooms.

But the quality of the rooms is also insufficient. Commissioner Hennyson Thielman recently indicated to the Island Council that the hotel, assessed on the material quality and finish, would hardly achieve a level of three stars. This assessment is confirmed by external experts. “The largest bedrooms in the two-room apartments are so small that a double bed with a width of 1.8 m cannot fit in them. At least not if you want to be able to walk around the bed, which can still be seen as a minimum requirement for high-quality accommodation facilities,” according to the expert involved.

Destination plan

PDB leader Clark Abraham also sees several objections apart from quality or size. “The agreement was that those sites, which were sold by BOG, would be used for hotel development. But if we look at the plans of Sunset Beach Resort, it concerns the construction of apartments for sale. A development of a completely different order,” says the political leader.

In the meantime, the question remains on the basis of which the project developers seemed so sure of their business that they – in anticipation of the permit process – already started working on the sale, without even a shovel having been cut for the actual construction and without a building permit.

Island Governor Edison Rijna is also still unable or unwilling to explain why he is in favor of granting permits. “I can vote on it, because there is no conflict of interest”, Rijna repeatedly repeated to questions from the Island Council. The rigid attitude of the first citizen is surprising because it increasingly appears that he cannot or will not substantiate his vote in favor in the island parliament.