Philipsburg: --- Island council lady Maria Buncamper Molanus posed several questions pertaining to the Section ROB (Public Works Department) during her presentation at Monday’s Island council meeting. The meeting was called by the Democratic Party Faction to deal with the financial and economic situation of the island.
The department in question is under investigation by the SOAB who already indicated in their preliminary reports that the executive council needs to take serious action. One of the suggestions given to the executive council is to hire an interim manager for the department, which is said to be in chaos.
Buncamper Molanus wants to know the reasons why building permits takes so much time to process and how many of those permits were processed this year and what is the processing time for these permits, she also wants to know if there are applications that were submitted this year and is yet to be processed.
Buncamper Molanus asked what has happened to the “Red Dot” program, which was geared at dealing with the backlog in that department. Most importantly, the island council lady wants to know what role the governor’s cabinet has played when it comes to the decision making regarding building permits. She made clear that she was part of the executive council and she is aware that the governor’s cabinet is somewhat involved in the final stages before the permits are granted. The island council lady asked what expertise the governor’s cabinet has on building permits and if they are assisting the at ROB to ensure that proper decisions are taken. Hoping to get direct information Buncamper Molanus asked how many of these permits pass through the governor’s cabinet per month. She said the executive council is blamed more often than not or even the commissioner who is mandated to sign is the ones that carry the blame, thus she believes the people has a right to know about the procedures, especially the amount of time it stays at each department prior to the issuance of the permit.
In the SOAB reports, it is said several of these applications and dossiers for building permits were found in the toilet at the department. (see related stories).
Another question posed by the council lady regards domain land and how much revenues government gain from these properties. Buncamper Molanus wants to know how many parcels of land were given out including water rights. She asked whom the recipients of the land given out were and what price per square meter it was sold for since all of this generates revenue for government. She asked if persons using domain land is fined when they are in violation of their permits regarding domain land and how much monies have been generated for the year from domain land. She asked specifically for the registration that was compiled by the inspectors, in order to get the exact figures. She made her point by saying she knows that these monies do not end up in the coffers of the island government and thus she believes the people has a right to know how much money St. Maarten is losing since the monies are paid to the federal government.
Buncamper-Molanus also wants to know what it costs government for the maintenance of infrastructures, including properties that are damaged when a light post fall. She said the former government had an agreement with St. Maarten Road Side Services to report these accidents to government. According to the island council lady this agreement is also with the insurance companies who are supposed to pay for the man made damages. She asked if that agreement is still standing or how much it is costing government to conduct the necessary repairs.
Hammering home on the function of ROB the island council lady questions the cost of the drainage of Bishop Hill, which is presently under construction as well as the Cole Bay roundabout. She asked if there has been any overruns when constructing these roundabouts and if so what are the cost of these overruns.
Buncamper Molanus also wants to know what does it cost the island government for the beautification of these roundabouts. She questioned if there were any tendering for the statues that are placed at these roundabouts. She asked about the cost of the Ring Road and if was tendered, Buncamper Molanus said even though the financing of these projects are financed by the harbor, which she said is concession monies. She wants to know when someone takes the sand from one project and use it for another if those in charge are taking government’s money and investing it into another project. She said she wants to know if such a process does not require public tendering as described in the CFT regarding the use of public funds. She also wants to know the cost to remove the silt in the pond and who was contracted to carry out the job, she also wants to know who the consultant for the Ring Road is and what is the cost to the taxpayers.
The island council lady asked if government owes Windward Roads and MNO Vervat and other contractors for the construction of the road projects. She asked for the name of the consultants who worked on these projects.
Government Reserves.
As for government reserves she said the former executive council under the Democratic Party has managed its finances well and made sure they were reserves and she wants to know if the current government had to broke any of its CD’s to pay for the new cars that were purchased for five commissioners now in office. She asked for monies that are currently on the CD’s and if in fact government had to break, the CD has to pay the August payroll. The island council lady said they needed clarity on these issues since it affects the financial and economic standing of the island. She said government might have a reasonable argument for breaking the CD’s.
She asked about the economic indicators and what are the arrivals at the both the airport and St. Maarten Ports Authority. She said the DP faction already asked for this information but to date the answers were not provided. Buncamper Molanus said she submitted a letter to the chairman requesting this information and even though they are receiving confirmation receipt from the governor’s cabinet, the answers are not forthcoming.
Labour and Social Welfare.
Buncamper Molanus asked for the figures on the dismissals that were submitted to the island and federal labour. She asked for the list of persons who registered at the labour department seeking work, and how many have requested Social Welfare. She said she wants to know if the social welfare recipients increased or decreased compared to the same period last year. She also asked for the figures that were paid out thus far on social welfare in 2009. She asked for the overview on the amount of work permits that were submitted for the year 2009, and those that were given both positive and negative advice.
Buncamper Molanus wants to know about the vending policy, which is intended to give vendors a fair chance in making a living. She wants to know where that policy and what is government is doing with it.
Laviest wants more indebt answers
While the island council lady asked several questions on ROB, she did not touch on the maintenance department, which is headed by her spouse. Independent member of the Island Council Louie Laveist said he wants to know who manages that department and why questions were not posed on it. He asked for the financial management of that specific department in ROB. He wants to know how are the contracts from that department is handled. He said he is not attacking anyone, instead, he feels it is only fair to provide the people with answers on the entire ROB.
As for the land, Laveist said he wants to know who the recipients of the domain land were and the specifics on the issuing of this land and what part of the island they received and how many square meters they each received. Laviest warned that people needed to be careful in what they are asking for because in this case they might just get it. Laveist during his short presentation made two proposals to the council. He said it is his belief that the island council members should come forward with solutions to the existing problems and not try to grandstand anyone. His first proposal was geared towards bringing relief to the people during this recession. Laveist said he intends to send a letter to the executive council on behalf of his faction requesting that they invite the supervisory board of GEBE to discuss their rates. The idea he said is to make sure the government owned company would be able to adjust or lower its rates thereby producing relief. Laviest made clear he was not making this proposal to attack the managing director of that company since he knows there are problems between the supervisory board and the managing director. He said if necessary, the managing director should also participate in this meeting when it is held.
The independent councilor made a second proposal to the executive council advising them that they begin to sell its domain land to those occupying the land. He said this would not only generate much needed revenue but it would allow people to become property owners. The island council was adjourned to October 2 where the answers would be provided.
