~Annual Report celebrates overseas delegations but provides no breakdown of airfare, hotels or Per Diem~
PHILIPSBURG:--- Parliament of Sint Maarten spent an estimated Cg. 870,143 on travel for Members of Parliament during budget year 2025, while its latest Annual Report documents substantial declines in meetings, committee activity, motions and legislation passed.
The contrast is staggering.
Parliament’s actual expenditure for 2025 amounted to Cg. 13,304,941. According to its financial overview, MPs spent 6.54% of that amount on travel expenses.
Applying Parliament’s reported percentage to its actual expenditure produces an estimated travel bill of approximately Cg. 870,143.
But while the report celebrates Parliament’s participation in Parlatino, ParlAmericas, IPKO, Tripartite consultations and other overseas engagements, it does not provide the public with a single detailed breakdown showing how much was spent on airline tickets, hotels, daily allowances, transportation or individual delegations.
The public is told where MPs traveled and who attended—but not what taxpayers paid.
Travel spending without the receipts
The Annual Report does not disclose:
- The exact amount spent on parliamentary travel;
- The cost of Parlatino delegations;
- Airfare paid for individual MPs;
- Hotel and accommodation expenses;
- Per diem rates or total allowances paid;
- Ground transportation and hospitality costs;
- Travel expenses for accompanying Secretariat personnel;
- Costs paid by host organizations;
- Reimbursements received by Parliament; or
- Unused travel advances returned.
The Cg. 870,143 figure is itself an estimate because Parliament published only the percentage devoted to MPs’ travel, not the exact amount.
That lack of detail is especially troubling for an institution whose constitutional responsibility includes scrutinizing government spending and demanding transparency from ministers.
Parliament cannot credibly demand financial accountability from government while providing the public with only a percentage to describe its own travel bill.
Performance fell across every meeting category
While travel consumed an estimated Cg. 870,000 in 2025, Parliament’s performance figures for the 2025–2026 Parliamentary Year show declining institutional activity.
Parliament recorded 93 meetings across its five main categories, down from 124 in the previous parliamentary year.
That represents 31 fewer meetings and a 25% decline.
Committee activity fell the most, from 65 meetings in 2024–2025 to 42 in 2025–2026—a decline of about 35.4%.
Public Meetings declined from 23 to 21. Central Committee meetings fell from 25 to 23. Presidium meetings dropped from eight to five, while Faction Leaders meetings decreased from three to two.
Every meeting category declined.
Motions Collapsed Nearly 79%
The deterioration was even more severe in Parliament’s use of motions—one of the strongest formal instruments MPs possess to demand government action.
MPs submitted 28 motions during 2024–2025. During 2025–2026, they submitted only six.
That represents a collapse of approximately 78.6%.
The number of motions passed fell from 21 to three—a reduction of approximately 85.7%.
Parliament’s report lists six motions as submitted but provides voting records for only five. One motion, concerning the CZAR Management matter, is listed without a recorded outcome explaining whether it was withdrawn, postponed, left pending or never brought to a vote.
MPs traveled, attended conferences and participated in regional assemblies, yet collectively placed only six motions before Parliament during the reporting period.
Only One Ordinance Recorded as Passed
Parliament also recorded seven draft national ordinances submitted during 2025–2026 but only one ordinance passed.
The sole ordinance recorded as passed—the Basic Payment Account Ordinance—was not one of the seven newly submitted measures. It was legislation carried over from an earlier parliamentary year.
In the previous parliamentary year, Parliament recorded five draft national ordinances passed. That number fell to one in 2025–2026—an 80% decline.
Several important financial-sector laws entered the parliamentary pipeline, including legislation dealing with payment service providers, virtual assets, clearing systems and financial-market infrastructure.
However, none of those seven newly submitted ordinances is listed as having been passed during the same reporting period.
Large Delegation Sent to Panama
The Annual Report identifies a major Parlatino delegation that traveled to Panama City for the organization’s 39th General Assembly from March 24 to 26, 2026.
The delegation consisted of nine MPs:
- Parliament Chair Sarah Wescot-Williams;
- Francisco Lacroes;
- Veronica Jansen-Webster;
- Christopher Wever;
- Egbert Doran;
- Lyndon Lewis;
- Viren Kotai;
- Darryl York; and
- Dimar Labega.
Secretary General G.J. Richardson also accompanied the delegation, bringing the reported group to ten people.
The report provides extensive details about the committees and meetings attended in Panama. It does not disclose what the trip cost.
A second Parlatino delegation, consisting of MPs Christopher Wever and Francisco Lacroes, traveled to Curaçao in May 2026 for the inaugural meeting of Parlatino’s Caribbean Special Commission.
Once again, no price tag was provided.
Because the financial overview covers calendar year 2025, the estimated Cg. 870,143 travel expenditure cannot automatically be said to include the Panama and Curaçao trips undertaken in 2026. Those delegations would generally fall under the 2026 budget unless any expenses were prepaid.
That means the actual travel cost connected to all activities documented in the 2025–2026 Annual Report may be higher than the figure disclosed for 2025 alone.
Written Questions Increased
The annual report does record one significant improvement: written-question letters increased from 77 in 2024–2025 to 114 in 2025–2026.
That increase should be acknowledged.
However, written questions are only one component of parliamentary oversight. Questions do not replace meetings, committee investigations, motions, amendments, or legislation.
A Parliament that writes more letters but holds fewer meetings, convenes fewer committees, submits dramatically fewer motions, and passes only one ordinance cannot rely on written questions alone as proof of strong institutional performance.
Taxpayers Deserve the Full Cost
International and regional parliamentary participation can provide value. MPs may obtain information, build relationships, represent Sint Maarten and participate in discussions affecting the country.
But public value cannot be assumed merely because a delegation traveled.
Parliament must demonstrate what each trip cost, why each participant was selected, what was achieved, and how the travel benefited the people paying the bill.
For every delegation, Parliament should publish:
- The names of all travelers;
- The purpose and duration of the trip;
- Airfare and ticket-change costs;
- Hotel expenses;
- Per diem paid to each traveler;
- Transportation and registration costs;
- Contributions from host organizations; and
- A report detailing the outcomes and benefits to Sint Maarten.
Without that information, taxpayers are left with photographs, ceremony descriptions and lists of attendees—but no meaningful way to determine whether nearly Cg. 870,000 in annual MP travel expenditure delivered value.
Accountability must begin at Parliament
Members of Parliament are full-time elected representatives. Their primary responsibilities are to legislate, scrutinize government, approve the national budget and represent the people.
Travel may support that work, but it cannot replace it.
The official record now shows:
- An estimated Cg. 870,143 spent on MPs’ travel in 2025;
- A 25% decline in overall meeting activity;
- A 35.4% decline in committee meetings;
- A 78.6% collapse in motions submitted;
- An 85.7% decline in motions passed; and
- Only one draft national ordinance recorded as passed.
Those figures demand more than a glossy annual report.
They demand receipts, a complete travel ledger and a public explanation of how Parliament can justify substantial travel spending while several of its most important indicators of legislative and oversight activity moved sharply downward.
Parliament demands accountability from every ministry and government-owned company. Taxpayers have every right to demand the same from Parliament.
If MPs can tell the public where they traveled, they must also tell the public what it cost—and what Sint Maarten received in return.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT), the Honorable Grisha Heyliger-Marten, has welcomed the arrival of three Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) donated to the Government of Sint Maarten by the Government of Curaçao, under the leadership of Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas.
PHILIPSBURG: Following a recent interview with Chair of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams, Member of Parliament Omar E.C. Ottley said it was disheartening to hear concerns he has raised repeatedly over the past two years only now receiving renewed attention.
MARIGOT, Saint-Martin:--- The Territorial Council of Saint-Martin will meet in plenary session on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. in the Council’s deliberation chamber to examine a wide-ranging agenda dominated by public finances, tax reform, land acquisitions and legal protection for four vice-presidents. 
PHILIPSBURG:--- St Maarten’s draft 2027 budget exposes serious financial risks involving SZV, utilities company N.V. GEBE and telecommunications company TelEm, while the government’s proposed relief for consumers remains largely dependent on future legislation, stronger price controls and possible tax reforms.
