Philipsburg:--- Finance commissioner finance Xavier Blackman at a press conference on Thursday clarified several issues pertaining to the island’s financial health. Blackman said it took weeks before he could have thoroughly accessed the island’s financial situation since he had to do some research at the various departments. The commissioner said there was no archive for him to refer to reasons why it took more time to gather information.
The commissioner when clarifying the true situation regarding the CFT said there is a difference between the CFT legislation and the practical implementation. He said the law on financial supervision has been in place since December 2008, in the law there the obligations, dates and deadlines are laid down. Blackman said it is evident that all parties involved has to familiarize themselves with the new rule since this he said is a learning experience for everyone. He said there are no surprises since both parties including the CFT and government have been keeping each other abreast on almost a daily basis. The commissioner said he wants to take away the perception that laws are being broken, deadlines are not being met, and things were going awfully wrong. Blackman said if that was the case the CFT and Dutch government would have been very vocal about that. Regarding the quarterly report Blackman said there is the law that is laid down in the AMVRB. He said according to the law the quarterly reports are to be submitted to the CFT and the island council within six weeks at the end of each quarter. If one is to calculate then the first quarterly report for 2009 was due on May 12 (during the time the former executive council was in office) to both the CFT and the island council. He said it was incumbent for the former executive council to send the report to both the CFT and the island council. Blackman said based on what he understands from the former commissioner of finance the island council has not yet received a copy of the first quarterly report.
He said while the report was submitted to the CFT on time it was not sent to the island council by previous government. Since then there has been some amendments and adjustments made to the subsequent drafts, some of which were delayed because the CFT had asked for some specific adjustments. He said the suggestions made by the CFT reached the island territory rather late (closer to the deadline) so they had to make some last minute adjustments prior to it being submitted. The commissioner could not give an exact date on which the reports would be presented to the island council. Blackman said it is believed that would happen sometime in August.
Blackman said his office has reached an agreement with the CFT where they would begin working on a monthly report rather than a quarterly report, he said this decision was not taken because they wanted to please the CFT or anyone else rather it is for the island territory to monitor its financial developments. This he said would allow the executive council a detail report on government spending and the level of their finances, which would allow the executive council to make better and informed decisions on policy matters.
Budget 2010 he said is being prepared and is on schedule, he said the deadline is August 15 and they are on track to meet the deadline. He said that presently they are working on the third draft, which is being scrutinized within government. Blackman said he also has an agreement with the CFT where they are sending drafts prior to the final document. Reasons for this are the CFT can also work progressively on the documents and not have work pile up on them at the deadline date. Blackman said the CFT has an obligation to give the island feedback and by them having preparatory work makes it easier for both parties.
Blackman said the draft they are working on still shows a deficit, which has to be eliminated before it, is sent to the CFT. Blackman explained that already the technocrats have been discussing this issue of not having a deficit. He said there is hardly any nation that works without deficit except those that has natural resources such as oil, and it is extremely hard for any country to work without a deficit especially developing countries.
Blackman said since the federal government had failed to put the necessary facilities on St. Maarten and the island is faced with additional tasks as it becomes country, additionally the island is also busy assisting in clearing up a backlog, which accumulated over a 50-year period. The island he said is now faced with a double whammy and with those conditions and having to work with a balanced budget is even more stressful. Blackman said even though the current government is working according to the guidelines of the CFT there are still ongoing negotiations, which would allow them to work with a deficit.
Based on the preliminary figures released by the multi annual accounts showed that St. Maarten has a good financial potential leading up to country status. He said taking into consideration the division of assets and not having a layer of federal government where monies generated locally has to pay into would leave the island in good financial potential leading up to country. Blackman said even though he is not able to provide details now, he can assure that the island is looking well financially leading up to country status.