Marigot: --- An apparent intervention by Prefet Dominique LaCroix has caused the President of the Territorial Council to refer the EPIC policy to the territorial council for amendments if it is necessary for amendments to be made. The advice was given to the Collectivity after the RRR party sent a prefectural referral to LaCroix pointing out some of the illegalities taken by the COM when the executive council amended the policy.In a press release sent by the RRR group it is said the Territorial Council now eliminates some of the amendments that were made in the executive council and the policy must now pass through the territorial council.
Another concern for the opposition is the no show of the president of the Tourist Office when matters are to be debated on the Tourist Office. The opposition made it clear that it is not normal for the EPIC president to stay away from meetings when major decision has to be taken regarding tourism.
The RRR group had asked that the agenda point be taken off the last Territorial Council meeting since the president of the Tourist Office was not present at the meeting to answer questions on the changes that are to be made.
The leader of the RRR Alain Richardson is obviously annoyed with the President of the Tourist Office since she has not been showing up to council meetings when there are matters pertaining to that office on the agenda. Richardson said he specifically asked that the agenda points regarding the tourist office be taken off until the EPIC president is available to debate the issues, but his request was not honored.
On May 7, the president of the COM submitted the decision for approval but the RRR abstained from participating due to the fact the opposition pointed out several loopholes in the policy, which is not to benefit of St. Martin tourism.
Leader of the RRR Alain Richardson said the COM is making some hasty decisions regarding tourism and they need to reflect on how these decisions, which would hamper the economy of the French side.
Following a futile debate and the absence of relevant information presented to the elected officials focusing on the different possible structures with advantages and disadvantages, our group has objected to the choice of the President and his majority for the structure "EPIC." The objections were made grounds that it lacks flexibility, but more importantly, it can penalize the island in the non-French markets, which represents more than 80%.
The RRR said they are deeply concern since they believe some of the decisions taken by the UPP/UMP are not to the benefit of the island but it is simply dogmatic.
The RRR stated in their release that the executive council has been making these amendments without consulting with the socio-professionals an agency that is defined to work jointly with the EPIC. Presently the EPIC has to function based on the decisions taken by the EXCO who has no experience on dealing with the subject.
