PHILIPSBURG:--- Members of Parliament were called to vote on Monday when a member of the opposition asked for speakers time to be extended and a member of the coalition opposed the extension. MP Frans Richardson who supports the government voted in favor of the extension citing that he believes that Members of Parliament should be given extra time if they need when debating certain topics. This brought the proposal to a vote because the ruling coalition objected. After the vote the chair of parliament indicated that he will hold a meeting on the topic so that the Members of Parliament will not have to go through such exercise again. MP Sarah Wescot Williams read out an article from the rules of order that states that the speakers time ‘may’ change. Wescot Williams said unless the rules of order is changed then Members of Parliament would have to abide by the current rules of order.
As for the Zebec settlement several members of parliament from the opposition asked pertinent questions on the settlement which came after a court case was initiated by ZEBEC and statements made by the management of the Harbor of Group of Companies who said that they would be taking ZEBEC to court.
The ZEBEC issue relates to the Dutch Village which was stopped and the company said they would take the St. Maarten Harbor Group of Companies to court for $100M because they did not live up to the contract/agreement they had. Members of Parliament questioned the authority given to the Director of SZV who gave what has been described as a soft loan to the harbor. Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot Williams said that since SZV is able to grant loans they should be able to provide financing for the infrastructural projects that cannot be executed due to the lack of money from government. Wescot Williams outlined several projects in the Cole Bay area and the Dutch Quarter project that had to be scaled back because government said they did not have monies needed to complete these projects
Wescot Williams also stated that it’s been a while now APS and government have been working on a settlement for the new government building. She suggested for SZV to enter the negotiations for the government building on Pond Island. The DP MP asked if the contract between ZEBEC and SMHGC has a payout clause in the event the contract is terminated. Wescot Williams said that the statements made in the past creates confusion, thus Parliament needs clarity on the payout/settlement.
Member of Parliament Christopher Emmanuel questioned the rumors in the community about the director of SZV whom he said claimed to have saved a particular politician and the harbor with the loan he granted the harbor for the settlement.
Emmanuel questioned the amount of land that was given to Royal Caribbean and the building permit issued for the project.
MP Silveria Jacobs said that the current government boasts about transparency and she believed that if government own companies provide information to parliament and government then they would eliminate most of the problems regarding integrity and transparency.
Other speakers includes MP William Marlin, MP Theodore Heyliger, MP Maurice Lake, MP Tamara Leonard, MP Silvio Matser, MP Leona Marlin, MP Cornelius de Weever and MP Franklin Meyers.
In Parliament on Monday to represent the Prime Minister and Minister of VROMI was Deputy Prime Minister Dennis Richardson who told Parliament that he was asked by the Prime Minister who is currently off island to attend this particular meeting since the Minister of TEATT who is responsible for the Harbor is fairly new.
The meeting will continue on Tuesday at 2pm where the Minister will begin answering the questions posed by Members of Parliament on the ZEBEC/Harbor settlement.
