PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament George Pantophlet believes that our faith in God has a lot to do with what our future holds for us as a people. There are many religions in the world and he will not go into that discussion. If we look at the year 2014 he feels that one can agree that it was one of the most difficult years in all aspects of life. Globally so much has transpired as well as locally and to detail every event would be impossible. What the focus should be on is tomorrow. It is expected according to reports that the global economy should grow to 4%. If we look at the economy of St. Maarten it is expected to grow by some 1% or so. To this he would quote a scripture that says "Many are the plans of a man's heart but it is the Lord's will that will prevail. This does not mean that we should not plan. But we must have the ability to discern the times in which we live in order to make relevant and effective policies for the future. We need to have a strong financial sector that wil have a positive effect on our economy. A very important factor is our attitude towards each other be it family business, politics everything is interrelated. We all need each other although there are some who might think otherwise. We need to have stable governments as this will encourage investors. We should also adhere to the advice given to us by the late Dr. Myles Munroe who said and I paraphrase we should stop looking for investors only and focus more on partnership". The Member of Parliament is convinced that they are responsible as representatives of the people to create an environment where everyone has equal opportunity to succeed. He paraphrase the words of the late Nelson Mandela who said that it is not the lack of ability but the lack of opportunity to be part of the economic growth. And again he must use the words of the Dr. Myles Munroe who said that God had given everyone 24 hours to work with, it is what you do with it that determines your success. We as representatives of the people have to take control of this country with the understanding that we have to give an account to the people. We are the leaders of this present generation and that our decisions impact this and future generations. We have to focus on poverty reduction and several keys to this are our education system that has to be revisited as to its failures and successes. We must identify what is needed to produce the required skilled labor and minimize the importation of foreign labor.
We have to look at the cost of living which entails salaries, food, fuel, rent and more. This year an evaluation will take place as to our performance as a country. What the Member of Parliament wants to emphasize to those who are doing the evaluation is to keep in mind that St. Maarten never received all the promised funding to the tune of some 180 million. In closing the Member of Parliament on behalf of his wife and himself want to say to the people of this country forgetting those things which are behind let us press forward with hope, diligence and complete trust in God. Happy New Year.
