PHILIPSBURG:---Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot Williams expressed concerns over the saga of the Central Bank of St. Maarten. MP Wescot Williams in a press release posed several questions about the work stop. Below is the press statement issued by MP Sarah Wescot Williams.
"I guess, according to some, it would be "politically incorrect" of me to question the saga unfolding at the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten (CBCS) here in St. Maarten. In fact, media reports suggest that this saga is ongoing since last year. Gradually it became clear that the work at the CBCS building in Philipsburg had come to a halt and the rumor mill went in overdrive.
When recently one of the 2 parties finally went public with their side of the story, the questions and insinuations became even more probing and disturbing.
The Central Bank is the monetary authority for Curacao and St. Maarten and manages our money and oversees our banking system. This institution since 10-10-10 has had its share of controversies and this is a gentle description of the malaises that have plagued this institution since it evolved from the Bank of the Netherlands Antilles (BNA) to the CBCS.
Believe it or not, I too, as a member of Parliament and former Prime Minister am only now hearing of the intricacies behind the renovation of the Philipsburg building of the Central Bank.
Information I obtained as Prime Minister upon inquiring, assured me that the reason for the delay in getting this project off the ground had to do with the stringent due diligence applied to the process. After all, this is our CENTRAL BANK!!
Since I can expect that my queries will be held against the formal competency that as member of Parliament I have or do not have to question this type of institutions, similar to the St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation, as a citizen of this country I publicly ask the Government of St. Maarten to "nip it in the bud" and show leadership by providing Government's stance in this matter.
Do not allow the people of this country to "go at each other's throats", when there must be a better (I hope) and truer explanation of what is happening. We might not like what it is, but at least give us the truth to debate.
Government cannot hide behind the hierarchy or confidentiality of institutions such as the Central Bank and allow the public debate to go wild, at the detriment of again another institution, on which the sustainability of our country relies.
In fact what we see, when these type pf occurrences are left up to their own vices, confidentiality is out of the window and hierarchy is trampled."
