Integrity discussion a waste of time --- Opposition prefers to wait until new government takes office, PR campaign need to revamp country's image.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The parliament of St. Maarten approved the invitation sent to the President of Parliament to attend the Kingdom Concert to be held in the Netherlands in December. The Parliament of St. Maarten also gave its approval for a committee to attend the Parlatino meeting to be held in November that will deal with women in politics and the integrity issues facing St. Maarten. These approvals took place at a Central Committee on Wednesday morning.
However, some members of Parliament namely, MP William Marlin, MP Frans Richardson, and MP Lloyd Richardson did not see the need for the Minister of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister Dennis Richardson to attend the meeting on Wednesday to discuss the Integrity Report issued by the Bob Wit committee that was established by the present government of St. Maarten. The report entitled "Do the Right Things Right."
Members of Parliament William Marlin and Frans Richardson said that Parliament was not informed that the Minister of Justice would have been at the meeting, they said had they known they would have asked for other Ministers to attend the meeting. "I think the chair invited the Minister and did not tell him what to expect because the Minister said that he was not prepared to answer some of the questions posed to him."
MP Marlin also tackled the Minister of Justice who told parliament that he is of the opinion that the Bob Wit report is a more superior report and that the PWC report for him is based on hearsay. Marlin told the Minister that when Ministers go to parliament the Members of Parliament are not interested in their opinions instead Parliament wants to know what is the position of government or the Minister in question. Marlin further stated that even though the Minister feels the Bob Wit report is a superior report, the parliament of St. Maarten did not see the response sent to that committee on the report they compiled but the government (Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister) dispatched a letter to the Kingdom Council informing them of St. Maarten's plans on the inferior (PWC) report.
MP Marlin said that he remains steadfast on his opinion that the meeting to discuss the integrity reports was a waste of time because just last week the Parliament of St. Maarten passed a motion unanimously that states that the outgoing government has agreed to implement the recommendations given in both reports, therefore the incoming government has to establish a committee, with a budget and timeline to set up an action plan for the recommendations in the reports to be implemented. MP Lloyd Richardson asked what does the Parliament of St. Maarten have to do because the Government of St. Maarten already responded to the Kingdom Council. MP Richardson said the Kingdom issued two instructions already and he heard there is a third coming. He said he wanted to know what sparked the instructions that the Kingdom Council is giving to the Governor of St. Maarten. He also insisted that he does not see any point in having the discussions because he simply does not know what it will yield. MP Lloyd Richardson asked the Minister what prompted the integrity inquiry by the Kingdom Council. MP Richardson said he wanted to know if there are any specific incidents that caused the Kingdom to take that type of action through a royal decree, since then he said that a second instruction was given and already it is said a third instruction will be given to the Governor of St. Maarten. He said that the Government already responded to the PricewaterCoopers report where they agreed to implement the recommendations in that report. He asked for a way forward because right now the country is at a standstill.
MP Frans Richardson said had he known that Minister Dennis Richardson would have been attending the meeting he would have called on the chair to step aside and answer questions on the integrity reports. He said right now the system is broken and you have a Minister who is part of the current caretaker government asking the Minister questions about a report that she too participated in establishing the committee to conduct the inquiry.
MP Frans Richardson informed the Minister that he asked questions to the Minister (government) who established the Bob Wit Integrity Committee yet he is told that the answers have to be drafted and sent to him. MP Richardson cautioned the Minister of Justice to do so very quickly and not wait until the new government sits. He said if he does not receive the answers to the questions he asked then he would have no choice but to pen a letter to the Minister with his questions in order to get the answers he need to further study the reports namely "Do the Right things Right" and the PWC report.
Minister of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister of St. Maarten Dennis Richardson in his remarks to Parliament said that the integrity issues of St. Maarten was placed under a microscopic glass and there are people looking from the outside inside, which according to him gives the impression that everyone on St. Maarten is corrupt. That statement did not sit well with MP William Marlin because he said that the committee was asked to look at government and government owned companies and not the every one living on the island.
Minister Richardson said that the Government of St. Maarten already agreed to implement 99.9% of the recommendations given in the two reports. He then gave parliament another elucidation on how the integrity investigations started by the Kingdom Council through a royal decree which he said is in conflict with the country's constitution. Currently the countries Aruba, Curacao and St. Maarten are working on putting a letter together which they will send to the Kingdom Council basically informing them that the countries are now drawing a line in the sand to say so far and no more. Minister Richardson even went further and said that St. Maarten has acknowledged its weaknesses and is also ready to tackle them. Based on the statements made by the Minister, MP Christopher Emmanuel told Minister Richardson that on September 25th, 2014 the Government of St. Maarten sent a letter to the Kingdom Council of Ministers as a response to the PWC report. He asked the Minister to tell the Parliament of St. Maarten what they were expecting when they sent that letter and what exactly they were asking the Dutch Government for.
Minister Richardson both in his opening remarks and while answering questions stated that the Government of St. Maarten is busy drafting an action plan as to how they will implement the recommendations in the integrity reports. He said that right now the country can implement some of the recommendations immediately while others will take time because the country will need to draft laws in order to implement some of the recommendations.
MP Johan Janchi Leonard said he wants to know what is St. Maarten doing wrong because he is not someone that abhors wrong doing and whatever it is the country is doing wrong then its time they fix it and start doing things right. "The name of report indicates that the country is doing things wrong. I need to know if the government already outlined the things that are done wrong so that it can be fixed, right now everyone is looking at St. Maarten with a magnifying glass. As a country we should not wait on other people to tell us to fix things, or what we are doing wrong. Soon the county will be entering the high season and people are looking at us, moreover we have to do things to enhance the economy."
MP/Minister of VROMI Maurice Lake feels that the Government of St. Maarten needs to put in place a public relations committee to start a campaign to clean up the island's image. Lake said that all that was said by politicians in the Kingdom about St. Maarten has tarnished the country's reputation, even making investors worry. MP Lake said soon St. Maarten will enter the high season and there is need to preserve the country's economy. MP Lake also informed Parliament that the Government of St. Maarten, namely Council of Ministers which he is part of should take a decision for the formateur to continue the formation process by submitting the names of the Ministers to the Governor and those persons should be screened based on St. Maarten's screening law. Minister Richardson said only on Tuesday that decision was taken in the Council of Ministers, especially since the screening laws of St. Maarten are not flawed, it has worked before and even better than the screening laws of some countries. MP Lake even called on the Minister of Justice to call for a Parliamentary inquiry on both integrity reports because in his view the reports are biased and based on hearsay.
MP Leona Marlin wanted to know if the Government of St. Maarten took any measures prior to the instructions given and the subsequent inquiry. She however, feels that these discussions should take place whether or not the Minister that attended parliament is a caretaker Minister.
MP George Pantophlet said he is also of the opinion that the discussions held on Wednesday was a waste of time because the country hired Transparency International to conduct an inquiry and that report is not yet in. He asked what would Parliament do, discuss these two reports and then when they get the one from Transparency International call another meeting of parliament to discuss the same issue?
