Philipsburg:--- Minister of Finance Roland Tuitt told reporters during the Council of Ministers' weekly press briefing on Wednesday that he has given orders to break the CDs government has in the banks to pay off some of its suppliers. One such supplier is Lets Travel who has been providing last minute tickets to politicians traveling abroad to represent Country St. Maarten. Tuitt said government will take between eight to fifteen million guilders to pay its suppliers. This information was released when SMN News pressed the Minister of Finance for the actual amount of monies it cost the tax payers of St. Maarten to send former chairlady of Parliament Gracita Arrindell to Uruguay last week. Tuitt said he did not have the figure neither he does not sign off on every check. Each Ministry and in this case the Parliament has its own responsibility on how it is spending. "Thank you for the question but I just don't know the figures. Let me tell you how Government works." Tuitt explained that the Minister of Finance does not sign off on the checks and he does not even see these checks when they leave his Ministry. "The responsibility is there and the Minister of Finance expects it to be carried out in accordance with good governance and prudent management and only when things go wrong then the Minister of Finance would step in to ensure that things go right."
Finance Minister sets Record Straight on Tempo Turn 7 Investment --- Contract not yet signed, first payment to be $200,000.00.
Minister of Finance Roland Tuitt in his presentation at the Council of Ministers' press briefing on Wednesday also attempted to defuse the comments and critics that are being made by the members of the community regarding Government's investment in the TEMPO Turns 7 Celebration which is to be held on St. Maarten next month. Tuitt said people are speaking about the monies Government intends to invest but they do not have all the necessary information. The Finance Minister assured that the Government of St. Maarten will make back its monies with the sale of tickets for each of the shows, if "things" go as planned the Government of St. Maarten will get back its $400,000.00 and maybe more. Tuitt said that the Government of St. Maarten will be receiving a share for the ticket sales of each show. Tuitt also confirmed when quizzed by SMN News that the contract with TEMPO and Government is not yet finalized and when that is done the Government of St. Maarten will make an initial payment of $200,000.00 to TEMPO.
COM Approved First Draft of 2013 Budget --- Country's Budget is Meagre --- Tuitt.
The Minister of Finance also announced that the Council of Ministers recently approved the 2013 budget after having one month extension from the CFT. Without giving many details, Tuitt said the 2013 budget is close to the 2012 budget which is 443 million guilders with a capital of 30 million guilders. The Finance Minister said for 2012 budget the High Councils of State got Naf. 16 million guilders, Ministry of General Affairs 71 million guilders, Ministry of Finance 71 million guilders, Ministry of Justice 74 million guilders, Ministry of Education 111 million guilders, Ministry of Health and Labour 62 million guilders, Ministry of Tourism and Economic Affairs 30 million guilders while the Ministry of VROMI got 34 million guilders. In the draft budget for 2013 which was approved by the Council of Ministers the figures are basically the same. The High Councils of State lost one million guilders, the Ministry of General Affairs got an additional million guilders bringing their budget to 72 million guilders. The Ministry of Education also got an increase of one million guilders which brings their budget to 112 million guilders. The Ministry of Health and Labour lost two million guilders giving them a budget of 60 million guilders and the Ministry of Economic Affairs lost one million guilders, their budget for the year 2013 stands at 29 million guilders. The Ministry of Justice remains with 74 million guilders and the Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning got an increase of two million guilders bringing their budget to 36 million guilders. The Finance Minister said that the budget of 2013 is meager but government will be depending on the monies they collect annually in taxes. He called on the unregistered businesses on St. Maarten to do the right thing and to ensure that they make their contribution to the tax system and to government.
When SMN News asked the Minister what the Government of St. Maarten intends to do regarding the Money Game that has been operating illegally on the island and evading taxes, Tuitt said that he does not know and since the case is now in the justice system they would have take the necessary measures.
As for the Ministry of Justice which has been getting a subsidy from the plan van aanpak, Tuitt said he already advised the Minister of Justice and the Council of Ministers that the plan van aanpak would have to be renegotiated.
The Minister of Finance said that the Taxand Investigation is almost complete and he is expecting a report shortly.
As for the purchase of the Emilio Estate, the Prime Minister said that government still has to work out the financial details of the purchase and government would have to see how they will get the funds to purchase Emilio Wilson Estate based on the agreement they have with the owners.
