PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot Williams told reporters on Wednesday during the Council of Ministers' weekly press briefing that she has been in consultation with the unions and the GOA regarding the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) payments that is owed to civil servants. "I have been in touch with the unions both individually and collectively based on their request for an update on the COLA payments. However, I have been repeating what I told the unions in the press when questions were being asked about the COLA payments."
Wescot Williams said she is not a member of the GOA but because of the issue she met with them on at least three occasions to apprise them of the COLA issues. She said that it is absolutely not true that she only gave information through the media because she also communicated to the unions and responded to the letter sent to her by joint unions. She said she did receive a letter from the unions in April 2013 and while they discussed the letter she did not respond to the letter officially. The Prime Minister said she also received a letter from the WICSU/PSU and they received a response from government informing them that the COLA has been an ongoing discussion with the GOA and government's preference is that they continue to discuss how they should move forward with the COLA.
The Prime Minister further explained that the "Remuneration and Salary Policy Performance Payments by Government" for the COLA was approved in October 2007 by the Executive Council and it is clear in that policy that the COLA payments will be made when it is feasible for Government. Wescot Williams said the same policy was taken over by government when St. Maarten became a country. She further explained that it is not without reason, she stressed that evaluation and performance had to be included in the policy. Wescot Williams said due to that there was a shift in the payments by government and emphasis was placed on performance.
Wescot Williams said that COLA payments take place depending on the financial room that government has. "This is clearly mentioned under point 2.5 of the policy while the inflation adjustments is decided by the Executive Council (Council of Ministers). Under point 5, the inflation correction states that yearly the Executive Council (Council of Ministers) will determine the feasibility of the general indexation. Wescot Williams said the COLA payments is not automatic and this is not something new. She stressed that one has to look at the entire policy to see where the emphasis is regarding remuneration and compensation for government workers. The Prime Minister said she gave this lengthy explanation to show that nothing has changed and they are still discussing the matter. "If you look at government's financial situation for the past years you would realize that it is not getting better. I have said in the past that government needs to tie its financial situation into the economic development of St. Maarten because government revenues will not grow just like that. There are economic developments that would have to be increased and be promoted in order to have better economic growth."
Wescot Williams said that government has been looking for a new way to do the indexation and the inflation adjustments all of which was explained to the media and the GOA in order for them to come to a proposal and not a decision for the calculation of the COLA. She said so far there has been a few things that have not moved forward, however the Minister of Finance indicated last week that he has picked up the matter from where his predecessor left off. "Minister Hassink picked up the issue and he is busy trying to get the research done while the 2013 budget remains a status quo and no payments can be made unless the 2013 budget is approved."
PM Admits to Receiving Letter from SCDF on Festival Village.
When SMN News asked the Prime Minister if the St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) sent her a letter regarding the management of Festival Village, Wescot Williams admitted that she received a letter from the SCDF expressing their feelings and opinions about the Festival Village.
Wescot Williams said that she already responded to the letter sent to her by SCDF. However, she made clear that she believes that they have to look at ways to make better use of the Festival Village on a long term and year round basis. Wescot Williams explained that the SOG (foundation that manages government facilities) has to take into account the agreement that TELEM has regarding the Festival Village while looking for ideas and possibilities regarding the usage of Festival Village. In addition, the SOG must take into consideration the annual carnival festivities and other proposals for the usage of the Festival Village.
Wescot Williams said she already indicated to the SOG that they have to first determine what they want or like for the location. She said the SOG cannot wait on different proposals and then decide which is better. "Let me say it this way let us see what we want and not the SOG alone, after that we can look at the various proposals and which would be the best entity to execute the proposal that is selected. There needs to be some plan in our minds on how to move forward. I have not seen a terms of reference going forward."
Wescot Williams also indicated that the discussions are ongoing and no decision has been taken on who would have control over the Festival Village.
SMN News managed to obtain a copy of the letter the Prime Minister sent to the President of the SCDF Michael Granger. According to the response the Prime Minister sent to SCDF, the SCDF made reference to the agreement that the Festival Village has with TELEM Group of Companies and the future plans for the usage of Festival Village. The Prime Minister assured SCDF that the annual carnival activities will not be hindered and furthermore SOG will hold regular meetings with SCDF when the planning of the annual carnival preparations take shape.
She also informed SCDF that the government of St. Maarten is a co-signee to the agreement TELEM Group of Companies has with Festival Village and they have a legal responsibility that must be upheld to avoid legal consequences.
PM Confirms Mobilization Fees for Government Building Exceeded Naf. 1 million.
Wescot Williams also chided the former Minister of Finance Roland Tuitt on the information he released on the amount of mobilization fees that were paid to a contractor for the Government Administration Building on Pond Island. In response to a question posed to the Prime Minister asking that she shed some light on the mobilization fees that were paid to the contractor, Wescot Williams said that the matter of the Government Administration Building was on the desk of all the Ministers of Finance and she wants to know what the former Minister of Finance did about it. She said she wants to know how long the project was on Tuitt's desk when he took office. She further stated that if he had made the statements he made in her presence she would have asked him how he tried to stop the payments.
Wescot Williams said she advised her Ministers especially the Minister of Finance not to join his predecessor in any type of back and forth discussions. The Prime Minister said she also took note of the statements that were made by former Finance Minister Roland Tuitt and she cannot say why the statements were made now. "The mobilization cost is no big secret, I already gave information on why the mobilization fees built up."
Wescot Williams said she announced on several occasions the reasons the government of St. Maarten was incurring cost and still is incurring cost for the Government Administration Building. The Prime Minister could not say exactly how long mobilization fees are to be paid for any construction project.