PHILIPSBURG:--- "The country is now moving into the second half of 2015 within the next five weeks, and I am hoping that within that period of time we will have the two ministerial positions filled by competent persons in order to continue moving forward.
"We got to start putting the right people in the right positions. Don't tell me we can't find persons out of the 23 candidates of the United People's party to fill one or both of these two positions. Why can't MP Dr. Lloyd Richardson be the minister of health or other persons within the coalition, fill one or both of these ministerial positions?
"We need to raise the bar and start working in the best interest of this country. Some say Members of Parliament don't understand their role and task. Our role is to legislate and hold government accountable while the role of Ministers is to execute based on the governing program.
"I may not be perfect, made mistakes in the past, but you learn from them and it makes you a better person in the end. I might not be the best speaker in Parliament, but I have learnt, I have grown politically, and am known throughout the country to get the job done in the best interest of the people.
"The people voted for me for getting things done and addressing the issues. I prefer be known for getting things done than being the best speaker in the House of the People. If asked to serve the people once again as Minister of VROMI, I am ready to serve if they can't find somebody. Once my career in politics is over my script should read, "He gave his best, job well done," MP Maurice Lake said on Sunday.
"The coalition government has the right formula to move the country forward, but needs to start executing projects. Our people see things stagnant with no new projects up to now, and want to see movement, projects moving forward providing work for our small contractors and others," United Peoples (UP) party Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lake added.
"I understand the budget related issues as a former Minister of VROMI, who also came under budget constraints during my tenure, but I still had to make things happen for the people of this country.
"I also understand the screening rules set by our Governor that have been established in the best interest of Sint Maarten, but that don't stop us from filling these two critical ministerial positions within Government. We have to continue to work and move the country forward.
"We have to clean-up yes! We have our integrity issues as noted in the report that the Sint Maarten Government commissioned itself. We don't need the Dutch to tell us about integrity. Every country has integrity issues. We have laws in place to deal with it, and need to put additional policies and legislation in place to deal with other aspects. In Holland a person with integrity issues resigns and then the Dutch give him/her a back office job, but here, we want to lock up our own and slander people's names bringing our own down.
"The Dutch Government has tarnished the image of our country un-necessarily, and should apologise. We can't continue to walk in the footsteps of others. We need to chart and direct our own way forward. We have our own constitution and laws," MP Lake concluded.
