PHILIPSBURG:--- The United Peoples Party, who has the majority in Parliament seem to have wasted their summer recess to put together some 16 amendments they wanted the Minister of Justice to change in the protocol he signed on June 2nd 2015 to avoid the Kingdom from placing St. Maarten under higher supervision. Based on what transpired in the Parliament of St. Maarten on Monday it is clear that the coalition including the faction leader of the UPP Franklin Meyers chose to live on his knees rather than dying standing when he opted to vote in favor of the draft law that was signed by Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson early June.
SMN News got hold of the draft document containing the amendments the UPP wanted before they vote in favor of the protocol, which they put aside on Monday simply to appease the Dutch. However, the question still remains if the strategy used on Monday will work or will the Dutch proceed with their modus operandi to take control over St. Maarten especially the Ministry of Justice.
Now that the Dutch has chosen to go back on their word and pursue their desire to impose an instruction on St. Maarten to establish an integrity chamber and to annul a decision taken by the Minister of Justice of St. Maarten; the UPP have decided to put aside their amendments and go along with the proposal given by the Leader of the Democratic Party Sarah Wescot Williams. Somehow, the MP’s that formed the coalition does not realize that MP Sarah Wescot Williams was the Prime Minister of St. Maarten for four years and she said she will support the establishment of an integrity chamber on St. Maarten, something the former Prime Minister did not get to execute before leaving office. It is clear that MP Wescot Williams could not go against something she championed while in office, therefore she spearheaded the drafting of the motions presented to the Parliament of St. Maarten on Monday. If there is anyone that knows the ins and out of this integrity chamber and what the Dutch wanted is the former Prime Minister and now Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot Williams and Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson who have been taking blows from the Members of Parliament of St. Maarten and the Dutch Minister of Home and Kingdom Affairs.
While it is indeed a good thing to have an integrity chamber on St. Maarten to curb what the Dutch deemed as rampant corruption it is clear that the people of St. Maarten were sold out and everyone can be subjected to an investigation based on their affiliations.
The Government of St. Maarten and those that fought to change St. Maarten’s status from being part of the Netherlands Antilles to a country within in the Kingdom ensured that this young country had all the means necessary for checks and balances even though there is still no money to fully financed these establishments. An Ombudsman, the Corporate Governance Council that never got proper financing and support from the former governments, the Council of Advice, the Audit Chamber and the Electoral Council are only a few of these entities that the country made sure were established even though St. Maarten did not get its fair share with the division of assets and debt relief and to date St. Maarten cannot get the assistance they requested from their Kingdom partners.
While the Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs told the Parliament of St. Maarten that he could not obtain documents from the St. Maarten Housing Foundation and the St. Maarten Harbor Group of Companies were not willing to share information with Parliament including GEBE, it is clear that these government owned companies and foundations are using the loopholes and power government gave them when they allowed them to establish a foundation to manage government owned companies. However, it did not take very long before the Prosecutor’s Office on St. Maarten found the right articles in the penal code to file a civil case against the St. Maarten Harbor Group of Companies to force them to share information with the Prosecutor’s Office. This measure taken by the Prosecutor’s Office established one thing that there are laws, and entities that could deal with any type of corruption, or even the semblance of corruption but those heading these entities must be willing to apply the law and even pressure when necessary.
Click here to view the draft amendments that were put together by the United Peoples Party.
