Tension run high during Central Committee meeting as MPs seek Clarification.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Members of Parliament during a central committee meeting with the board of APS, Minister of Finance Maarten Hassink and Minister of VROMI Claret Conner fired some strong questions towards the Ministers and even the board of APS for the agreement/ long lease land agreement that was given to APS for a symbolic price after the majority in Parliament gave the Ministers a motion of non- confidence since September 30th 2015.
MP Maurice Lake during the notification period reminded the chair that he dispatched three letters to the caretaker government on several issues and to date he cannot get response from the Ministers that are soon to leave office.
MP Lake in his questioning asked the Minister of VROMI how many advices he has on this land transfer and if the Secretary General of VROMI Louis Brown signed off on any of them. He said he was made to understand that a department head signed one of the advices and he wants to know if that department head signed the advice after the Minister or if it was done before. MP Lake asked about the Landsbesluit of October 30th 2015 that SMN News published. He asked if the Governor of St. Maarten signed off on this document. Further to that MP Lake asked why it is Government and APS chose to build affordable homes and not social homes. He asked what happened to plans he left in office when he was a Minister of VROMI who dealt with the purchase of the VORST property. MP Lake then asked if the zoning for Cay Hill where the VORST property is located was amended or changed to accommodate the project, such as building affordable or social homes.
MP Silvio Master asked what the cost of the affordable homes is, he said while he is hearing affordable homes he did not see any price range in the presentation the director of APS George Willems presented to Parliament Friday afternoon. He asked both the Minister and APS to tell him exactly what they call affordable homes and most importantly he wants to know why did Government chose to give the land to APS for a symbolic price in long lease while government owed APS. MP Master said government paid $5.5M for this property and he wants to know why it was not done in such a way that APS could have written off some of the debts government owed the pension fund. He also asked if government will share the profit if there is any when these homes are built.
MP Frans Richardson congratulated APS and its board for their courage to report to Parliament because during the morning hours on Friday the central committee meeting that was scheduled for St. Maarten Medical Center was postponed at the last minute because according to what he heard the director of SMMC buckled due to pressure. As for the APS long lease MP Richardson asked about the cost of the affordable homes. MP Frans Richardson also insisted that Parliament should be given a copy of the agreement and or LB because they do not know if the one they have is the one that is being processed.
MP Christopher Emmanuel in addressing the Ministers and the board of APS he asked if they considered the motion of no confidence given to the current Gumbs cabinet, especially knowing that a former Lt. Governor is on the APS board. He asked what was the rush in signing off this agreement and if the Minister went any notary already or if there are plans for him to go to any notary on the island to finalize this transaction, if the Minister visited any notary the Members of Parliament wants to know which notary and they also asked for the final document on the VORST/ APS land agreement.
George Willems in answering the questions said that no final agreement has been signed between APS and Government on the VORST property. He said right now everything is in its preliminary stages and once that is completed it will be presented to APS board and investment committee for finalization. He said that if the project is not feasible for APS they will ‘call it quits” on the project. Willems said that the intention is not for government to get monies out of the project or to write off debts because that was never the intention. Willems said that APS must invest 60% of their monies locally while they could invest the other 40% overseas.
Willems insisted that there is no agreement or notarial deed in place yet and when they reach that far they will make all the documents available to parliament. He also stated that APS did not choose a contractor to develop the project as yet because they have not reached that far as yet. He also made clear that no bidding was not done because they simply did not reach that phase as yet.
APS chairman Franklin Richards also told Parliament that he personally did not sign any agreement and he also told Parliament that nothing regarding this property was on the table of APS for discussion.
However, when Members of Parliament began questioning the procedure which they said is not normal because if there was no agreement with APS what did the Minister submitted to the Council of Ministers for handling. Even the Chairlady of Parliament Sarah Wescot Williams pointed out that something had to be presented to Council of Ministers for handling and whatever was presented to Council of Ministers, a copy should be submitted to Parliament. At that point Richards back-peddled and said that on June 26th 2015 APS established a committee to approach government for the VORST property for development. He said everything that was done by that working group and the Minister of VROMI. Richards then said that the board did agree with the draft long lease agreement which is currently by the notary for handling. Richards also told Parliament that there is a clause in the long lease which states that if the land is not developed within one year then it goes back to government.
Minister of VROMI Claret Connor was cornered by Members of Parliament with the information he provided to Parliament. MP Maurice Lake challenged the Minister about the plans he left behind. MP Lake said it is impossible for the Minister to tell him that were no plans because the same people that worked in his cabinet worked with the Prime Minister along with the current Minister of VROMI. MP Lake even agreed to share the plans he left in office, when Minister Claret Connor said that he did not see any formal plans in place.
MP Franklin Meyers said that the development of the VORST property was not the brain child of the current Minister, he said that this project was the brain child of former Minister now Member of Parliament Maurice Lake. MP Meyers said his political party the UPP took a beating for this same property and he defended the purchase of the property when MP Lake was a Minister and he will continue to defend it now.
MP Christopher Emmanuel told the Minister that both the Emilio Wilson Estate and the VORST property were given away but the crucks of the matter before Parliament on Friday is the agreement that was presented to Council of Ministers before the Council of Ministers approved it, so that a LB could be drafted.
