~SAM leader says Parliament must hold ministers accountable, challenges criticism over his attendance and warns MPs against acting as though governing carries no financial burden.~
PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Franklin “Frankie” Meyers has submitted a budget amendment seeking to redirect Cg. 2 million within the Ministry of Justice to outstanding payments owed to police personnel, while also presenting a motion calling for Parliament to fund the completion of the proposed Ryan Gumbs driving-under-influence legislation.
Meyers presented both initiatives during Wednesday’s continuation of the 2026 budget debate.
His proposed amendment would transfer Cg. 2 million budgeted for detaining Sint Maarten detainees in the Netherlands to the budget allocation for retroactive personnel payments.
Meyers said the funds are no longer required for their original purpose following an agreement between the governments of Sint Maarten and the Netherlands concerning the cost of detaining Sint Maarten prisoners housed in the Netherlands.
According to Meyers, the Netherlands agreement means Sint Maarten is no longer required to bear those detention costs.
He therefore proposed reducing the relevant detention allocation by Cg. 2 million and increasing the allocation for retroactive payments by the same amount.
The amendment is budget-neutral, meaning it would not increase total expenditure in the 2026 national budget.
More than Cg. 5 million owed
Meyers said an obligation of Cg. 5.08 million has already been established for corrections and outstanding salary entitlements owed to police personnel.
The proposed Cg. 2 million reallocation would cover a substantial portion of that obligation, although it would not eliminate the entire amount owed.
“This budget-neutral amendment will allow the Ministry of Justice to address the greater portion of retroactive payments due to police officers while ensuring that the overall level of budgeted expenditures remains unchanged,” Meyers stated.
The amendment raises an obvious question for government: if the Cg. 2 million is genuinely no longer required for detention expenses in the Netherlands, why should those funds remain idle while police officers are still waiting for legally established payments?
Police officers are expected to work long hours, confront armed suspects, respond to traffic fatalities, and maintain public safety. Government cannot continually praise justice workers while allowing established salary obligations to remain unsettled.
If the money can legally be redirected without increasing the national budget, Parliament and the Council of Ministers must explain any decision not to use it to reduce the debt owed to Justice personnel.
Motion seeks funding for Ryan Gumbs law
Meyers also presented a motion calling for the necessary funds to be taken from Parliament’s Secretariat Legal budget post 430 to advance and pass the proposed Ryan Gumbs law.
The proposed legislation is named in memory of Ryan Gumbs, who was killed in a traffic collision involving allegations of impaired driving.
Meyers argued that Sint Maarten’s limited financial resources must go to urgent national priorities that benefit the entire population.
His motion cited seven traffic deaths in 2024, four in 2025, and nine recorded so far in 2026.
The figures, as presented by Meyers, mean at least 20 people lost their lives in traffic accidents over less than three years.
The motion states that Parliament should jointly agree to use the required funds from the Secretariat Legal budget to complete the Ryan Gumbs DWI legislation as a measure aimed at reducing traffic accidents caused by driving under the influence of alcohol or other substances.
If adopted, copies of the motion would be forwarded to the Government and Governor of Sint Maarten.
The initiative now puts Parliament’s priorities under scrutiny.
Members routinely express concern after fatal traffic accidents, offer condolences, and call for stronger enforcement. Meyers’ motion seeks to move the discussion from speeches to legislation by identifying a potential funding source.
Parliament must now decide whether it is prepared to finance the legal work necessary to bring the proposed law forward.
Coalition MPs must question their ministers
Beyond his amendment and motion, Meyers delivered a pointed defense of the right—and responsibility—of coalition MPs to question government ministers.
He rejected the idea that questioning ministers means coalition parliamentarians are working against their own government.
According to Meyers, all 15 Members of Parliament were elected by the people of Sint Maarten and have a responsibility to represent them.
“We’re all elected by the people of St. Maarten, and we represent the people of St. Maarten,” Meyers said.
He stressed that holding ministers accountable is not a function reserved for the opposition.
“The role of Members of Parliament is to hold the ministers accountable—each member, not just the opposition,” Meyers said.
“What are we supposed to do? Are we supposed to just sit here? And if we’re seeing something going south, are we supposed to say nothing?”
His remarks challenge the longstanding political culture in which coalition MPs are often expected to protect ministers from scrutiny simply because they belong to the same governing majority.
Meyers said questioning ministers is part of Parliament’s constitutional role and should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of conflict within the coalition.
“We have a role to play, and we will play that role,” he said.
Parliament can criticize; government must find the money
Meyers also compared Parliament to children in a household and the executive branch to parents carrying the financial responsibilities.
He said parliamentarians can demand programmes and criticize government, but ministers must find the money to pay civil servants and meet the country’s obligations.
Members of Parliament, he noted, receive their salaries on time and receive funds when they travel, without having to determine where that money will come from.
The Council of Ministers, by contrast, must manage revenue shortages and ensure government meets its monthly payroll.
Meyers recalled his time serving in the executive branch as a commissioner and minister, when government sometimes had to seek overdraft facilities because incoming revenue was insufficient to cover payroll.
His comparison does not diminish Parliament’s oversight role. If anything, it underscores the need for MPs to accompany their demands with realistic funding proposals—precisely what Meyers attempted through his Cg. 2 million budget-neutral amendment and the proposed use of Parliament’s legal budget for the DWI legislation.
Meyers challenges claims about his attendance
Meyers also responded to online criticism concerning his planned travel to attend his uncle’s 90th birthday celebration in Atlanta.
He explained that the 2026 budget meeting was initially expected to begin on August 6 but was subsequently postponed twice.
According to Meyers, he had purchased his ticket after committing months earlier to attend the family celebration. He said he informed his coalition partners that he would cancel the trip if his presence became necessary for the budget process.
Meyers rejected suggestions that he was neglecting his parliamentary responsibilities and called for Parliament’s attendance records to be published.
“I hope it is published,” Meyers said, adding that the public would then be able to assess the attendance of all MPs.
He said he does not need anyone to tell him what his role in Parliament is or how he should carry it out.
“If you are looking for me, you know exactly where to find me,” Meyers stated.
Action now rests with Parliament
Meyers has placed two concrete proposals before Parliament.
The first would redirect Cg. 2 million in unused detention funding toward more than Cg. 5 million in established obligations owed to police personnel.
The second seeks funding to advance the Ryan Gumbs DWI law amid an alarming number of traffic deaths.
Both proposals identify a problem, a possible funding source, and an intended public benefit.
The debate can therefore no longer remain limited to whether government cares about police officers or whether Parliament is concerned about impaired driving.
The questions are now straightforward:
Will Parliament approve the reallocation?
When will police personnel receive the money owed to them?
Will the Ryan Gumbs DWI law receive the funding needed to move forward?
And will MPs who repeatedly call for road safety support a motion intended to turn those calls into enforceable legislation?
The public should judge Parliament not merely by what its members say, but by what they are prepared to fund and pass.
