Dear Honorable Members of Parliament,
Again we are writing to you to point out some of our concerns related to the draft budget 2013. We are using our right to petition as stipulated in Article 24.1 of our Constitution and expect that the letters will be dealt with according Article 68 of our Constitution, the Explanatory Memorandum is very clear on these articles when it comes to dealing with petitions and we expect nothing else than that the right procedures will be followed.
It might have come to your attention that there is an increasing dissatisfaction among the people of Sint Maarten with the manner in which you and other parts of our government are dealing with The People's affairs. As stipulated in Article 44 of our Constitution; you are representing the entire population of Sint Maarten and your past and current actions do not show this. The will of The People is the foundation of your authority.
In prior elections all sorts of things were promised and manifestos appeared all over the place. While in opposition the greatest support is being shown when there is social unrest. During tenure "in power" promises are not being kept and the same support for issues plaguing The People is nowhere to be found. The same can be said for (lack of) measures when "in power" with bogus explanations.
To give you a short list of examples of promises made and misleading situations by our representatives:
The turnover tax was said to be temporary and later even got a "temporary" increase. In the 2013 draft budget there is another increase on alcohol and tobacco. We were led to believe that once we became country that we would have an abundance of money, because we didn't have to give up our generated turnover tax to the federal government of the Netherlands Antilles.
During the Pelican saga many of you showed support for the workers, but what has been done so far to prevent situations like these? It is not only about abolishing six months contracts, but also preventing workers from become victims of schemes by employers and loopholes in our laws when it comes to the sale of a company, bankruptcy of a company or continuation of business in another form.
When the Civil Servants and Teachers went on strike to demand their COLA pay out, many of you were standing in the midst of them and supporting them and now all of a sudden the COLA is a significant problem and solutions need to be found for it. We are not giving an opinion on the COLA itself, but are merely pointing out the grandstanding of many you.
The revamping of the tax system has been a topic of discussion for many years. The fact that this is hardly being dealt with even after obtaining country status shows great incompetence by itself, but what have you proposed on fiscal legislation? No answer needed, because we know.
There are many more examples to be given, but we hope that you get our point: You are not doing much to decrease the lack of trust that The People have in you, nor are you showing any competence in handling The People's affairs. The debate on the draft budget 2013 can be a start for making up on lost ground.
How is it possible that the Council of Advise and the Audit Chamber show a decrease in the budget for 2013? Not to mention that the costs for the Corporate Governance Council aren't even budgeted. These councils are of the utmost importance for the functioning and transparency of government. You should fight tooth and nail to protect The People's rights to good governance.
A budget is made for the period of a year and a governing accord for the entire period a coalition is in power. Where are the policies that outline and justify government spending for the year 2013? If there aren't any, why is this? Is it maybe because you didn't do your job as parliament to instruct your ministers to come up with solid policies that are in the best interest of The People and that can be logically explained?
We also agree with the Council of Advice that, according to the Computability Laws Articles 11 through 15, there is no solid base for the expenditures and that there aren't sufficient breakdowns of categorized expenditures. What is our tax money being spent on? Do you know? You don't because there are no audited accounts! Please explain the draft budget 2013 to us with sufficient breakdowns and policies justifying that spending.
If the proposed increases in taxes (taxes for casino's and lotteries, 5 cents increase on gasoline, 4 cents increase on diesel, 1% increase on fuel for GEBE, increase of transfer tax from 4% to 5% and the increase in turnover tax on alcohol and tobacco) are ratified by you then we hope that you understand that they won't become law as of January 01, 2013. This in turn will mean that the objective of generated income out of taxes for the year 2013 will not be met. At the same time we hope that you realize that certain taxes directly influence the cost of living. We also hope that you can guarantee that GEBE will not calculate their increase in costs through the fuel clause. This is indirect taxing of The People.
We sure hope that you will reject the 2013 draft budget as presented to you and that you will finally represent The People and their interests. Demand policies or propose them on your floor and demand breakdowns of expenditures. Regain the trust of The People. #sxmmovement.
Soualiga Social Movement
