Philipsburg:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot Williams announced last week Monday that an investigation into the operations of the VDSM is currently taking place where the SOAB is investigating them to see if there was inappropriate or misuse of funds.
SMN News has learnt from well placed sources that the VDSM was given monies as their budget for their operations even though the oversight committee was not functioning. According to one well placed source, the Prime Minister of St. Maarten submitted an advice during the Wescot Williams II cabinet on behalf of the VDSM asking that monies be replenished. "The request was a strange one that the Prime Minister could not explain or back up, except to say that the VDSM used their monies for certain things and they had to be reimbursed."
The source said that the Ministry of Finance under the leadership of former Minister Roland Tuitt rejected the advice because he wanted to know if the VDSM provided any accounting on the monies they were given in the first instance. SMN News learnt that the Prime Minister who is responsible for the VDSM felt that the department needed monies and they should get it even though they did not provide government with their financials on the monies they were granted prior.
What Sparked the Current Investigation --- PM's Son in Law Representing Financiers of Government Building.
SMN News further learnt that the VDSM was busy conducting an investigation on the Government Building on Pond Island and when the Prime Minister got word of this she called for an investigation on how VDSM is spending the monies that were given to them by government. "Certain people are saying that the VDSM embezzled between Naf. 100,000.00 to Naf. 500,000.00 but that is yet to be proven. What the Prime Minister did is turn the focus on the VDSM in order to take the focus away from her and the Government Administration Building that falls directly under her and her son in law being the representative of the financiers."
SMN News understands that the VDSM was particularly concerned about the Prime Minister who is in charge of the completion of the Government Administration Building and her son in law as the one representing the financiers of the project. While the sources could not provide the real name of the company that was providing the financing of the Government Administration building, they said it is one of the subsidiary companies of WP Carey. It should be noted that the Prime Minister's son in law was the one negotiating the Justice Park with former Justice Minister Roland Duncan. At the time, the Prime Minister's son in law was representing Global 17. The two negotiators for the 100 million dollar project was the son of the Prime Minister Andy Wescot who was negotiating on behalf of Orista N.V. and Gary Master negotiating for the financiers Global 17. The idea was for Orista N.V. to sell two of their properties located in Cay Hill to Global 17 for 25 million dollars. Global 17 would have then developed the project of the Justice Park and rent it to Government for a period of 30 years before the Government of St. Maarten becomes the owner of the properties. The information on the Justice Park and who was negotiating for the financiers and the Orista N.V. was confirmed by the former Minister of Justice Roland Duncan just prior to the fall of Wescot Williams II cabinet.
The source further explained that the Prime Minister's son in law once met with the Ministry of Finance to discuss their proposal on financing the completion of the Government Administration Building but the outcome of that meeting is not known.
SMN News further learnt that the former Minister of VROMI William Marlin wanted to take over the Government Building from the Prime Minister since her son in law was involved in the project and that in itself placed the Prime Minister in an uncomfortable position but the Prime Minister refused to release that project to the former Minister of VROMI whose department is also involved in the project. Another project that came under the microscope of the Wescot Williams I and II cabinets and was stopped by the National Alliance led government in the Wecot Williams II cabinet is the Justice Park where the Prime Minister's son and son in law were directly involved. Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson recently told SMN News in an interview that the Justice Park project was halted by the Wescot Williams II cabinet and he is currently reviewing the project.
SMN News learnt that the NA/DP/I-3 coalition put a halt on the Justice Park because the Dutch and CFT both denounced the project. According to one source, the NA led Government felt that the Prime Minister's son and son in law were also involved in a project that has the concerns of the people and the Dutch and therefore they halted the project even though St. Maarten needed several justice facilities that were incorporated in the Justice Park.
The source said that because of the decisions taken by the National Alliance, Ministers the Democratic Party decided that they needed to use Member of Parliament Romaine Laville as a scapegoat to throw the Government down because projects that would benefit the Prime Minister and her immediate families were halted. It is left to be seen how the Prime Minister will react to this information and if she will now tell the people of St. Maarten about the Government Administration Building that has been sitting on Pond Island for several years. That building was built by a Trinidadian company (RGM) who never completed the building.
Who is the head of VDSM --- James Richardson.
In order to know who exactly is the head of VDSM, SMN News did some digging. According to information received, James Richardson, a local St. Maartener, was described as a very upstanding citizen that studied in the Netherlands. Richardson has full police training but instead of working as law enforcement officer he moved to Aruba after leaving the Netherlands and there he opened a security company.
During the dismantling process in which the current Minister of Justice was highly instrumental, James Richardson was selected as the person to head the VDSM. SMN News understands that while Minister Dennis Richardson was involved in constitutional process for St. Maarten to become a country, the Dutch Security Agency was heavily involved in assisting St. Maarten to set up the departments that are needed for the island to become a country within the Netherlands. SMN News made several efforts to reach James Richardson for a comment on this ongoing saga but he could not be reached by phone or at his home in Guana Bay. SMN News learned that Richardson was placed on suspension the moment the Prime Minister initiated the investigation.