Engineering the now.
Designing the future.
Who We Are
SoualiGas B.V. is a specialized Dutch engineering consultancy firm - with its own Research & Development department - serving the Dutch Caribbean. With the founders being born and raised on Sint Maarten, we bring together deep Caribbean island experience with Dutch engineering standards and systems thinking.
Our team combines over 24 years of structural engineering, construction management, project management, and cost estimation expertise with advanced environmental engineering, circular economy design, and project controls capabilities. We understand both the technical challenges and cultural context of delivering infrastructure projects in the Dutch Caribbean.
With a desire to bring our expertise back into the region, we aim to bridge the gap between small island governments, utilities, and international funding institutions, providing the technical expertise and project management capacity that makes complex infrastructure projects succeed.
Our Team
Matthew Halley
Director & Head of Research & Development
Matthew was born on St. Maarten and left the island to pursue higher education in the Netherlands. With bachelor degrees in Biochemistry and Civil Engineering, Matthew has worked in the fields of biofuels, aquaculture, construction, and renewable energy. His study and work experience has always been geared towards finding solutions that could be brought back to the Caribbean to improve the quality of life. This eventually led to the pursuit of a masters degree in large-scale Urban-Systems engineering. His experience in Offshore Wind, Energy, and Infrastructure projects, allows him to play a valuable role as a consultant. However, his role as Head of R&D allows him to blend his engineering and scientific background to tackle one of the largest problems on his home island and in the wider Caribbean region; waste accumulation.
Sergio Hodge
Director & Head of Consultancy
Sergio was born on the island of St. Maarten and pursued higher education in the Netherlands. With a bachelor degree in Construction Engineering, Sergio has over 18 years of engineering experience in the Netherlands, St. Maarten, and other nearby islands on projects of various scopes and sizes. After experiencing the destruction of St. Maarten by Hurricane Irma in 2017, Sergio wanted to be part of a long term solution to rebuild the Caribbean in a sustainable and long-lasting manner. As the Director & Program Manager of SoualiGas, he aims to do just that!
Inspiration of the
SoualiGas name
The Amerindian Arawaks gave the island of St. Maarten the name “Soualiga" meaning the “land of salt”, due to the salt flats on the island. Salty lands were considered curses as agriculture was limited at best, but eventually salt became a commodity - a gift - that allowed desolate areas to grow prosperous. We view the curse of waste similarly. With the right solutions, we can transform it into a gift that provides for the people of these islands.
