Philipsburg:--- Minister of Justice Roland Duncan and Finance Minister Roland Tuitt are outraged at an article that appeared in one of the local newspapers on Friday where they copied a story from De Telegraaf in the Netherlands who claimed that St. Maarten is not paying its fair share to the Coast Guard bills who are providing services to the Dutch Caribbean nations. The Minister of Justice provided reporters on St. Maarten with copies of the payment receipts that were wire transferred to the Coast Guard accounts. The latest payment was made in March 2013. De Telegraaf in their article published on Thursday stated that St. Maarten is a "corrupt island" and has been ducking its responsibilities when it comes to paying its share for the operations of the Coast Guard.
Below are copies of some of the receipts that show when the Government of St. Maarten made the payments via wire transfer from the Windward Islands Bank to an account in Curacao.
Click here to view the payment receipts to the Coast Guard's account.