PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams confirmed to reporters during the Council of Ministers' weekly press briefing on Wednesday that the Council Ministers discussed the proposal that was sent to the Council by Minister Maurice Lake to regulate (muzzle) the media on St. Maarten. The Prime Minister said that meetings of the council are confidential but she spoke on her own behalf when she said that the council discussed the Minister's letter but they did not get into the details of his proposal. Since the publication of the letter Minister Lake sent to the media, several media outlets including the Caribbean Media Association and Member of Parliament from the Netherlands Andre Bosman questioned the intentions of Minister Maurice Lake. MP Bosman said in a letter to the Minister of Interior and Foreign Affairs Ronald Plasterk that Minister Lake's wishes would trample on the country's constitution and asked that the Minister get in touch with the Government of St. Maarten to find out what their intentions are.
Minister Maurice Lake sent the letter to the COM to curb the media especially SMN News even though media regulations fall under the Minister of Traffic and Telecommunications. This happened one day after SMN News posed some harsh questions to Minister Lake about the work stop he issued on the FOGA Development plan. However, the Minister used a story SMN News published last week stating that the SWW-3 cabinet collapsed as his excuse for wanting to regulate and dictate who are allowed into the Government press briefings. Minister Lake even suggested that non Dutch nationals such as SMN News reporter should have a working permit to operate or enter the weekly press briefings.
Wescot Williams who was obviously eager to speak out on the topic said that there are concerns among everyone in the council and there needs to be dialogue and discussions among everyone in the community. She said even the media should discuss among themselves what they want while there should be an open discussion on what is allowed on the internet in general. Based on the Prime Minister's statements, it is clear that the Council of Ministers have a beef with SMN News reporter who exposed several instances of corruption in government especially involving the Prime Minister herself.
One of the questions posed to the Prime Minister was if French nationals need to have a working permit in order to work on the Dutch side, Wescot Williams said that was not the case in the past but now that is indeed a requirement. What the reporter and the Prime Minister failed to mention are the requirements to obtain a working permit and if Dutch nationals from the Netherlands must register at the census officer in order for them to work legally on the Dutch side. SMN News asked the Prime Minister if Dutch nationals are required to register at the census office and she confirmed it is indeed a requirement.
In fact, the illegal workers found at Brasserie New York some months ago were from the French side according to reports reaching SMN News. Yet the businessman who happens to be the Prime Minister's son was not fined.
The audio of press briefing will be posted under this article for the sake of clarity and transparency.
Just after the fall of SWW-2 cabinet the former Minister of Justice Roland Duncan confirmed to SMN News that the Prime Minister's son and son in law were the ones negotiating on behalf of the foreign investors for the so called Justice Park. SMN News also exposed the raid that was conducted by Immigration and Labor inspectors at the Brassiere New York which is owned by the Prime Minister's son. When the raid was conducted the inspectors found several irregularities including health hazards.
SMN News also broke the news and showed evidence that the United People's Party is using an active member of the media to write their press releases while the reporter in question is being paid by the Harbor Group of Companies, a government owned company. The same journalist had her working documents denied for the lack of qualifications but three members of the former Executive Council voted in favor of going against the decision taken by the former Commissioner of Labor Louie Laviest. Since then, the reporter in question has been working and writing on behalf of the politicians who allowed her working permit to be renewed.
The Prime Minister said the Government of St. Maarten is working on its media policy while the Parliament of St. Maarten has to deal with the draft media law that was proposed by former Minister of the Netherlands Antilles Omyra Leeflang.
It will be interesting to see if the media policy government is working on would allow active journalists that are working for the external media houses to work for politicians as is the case right now.
Editor's Note: While the current Council of Ministers is trying to do everything in their power to muzzle SMN News, we will remain vigilant and ensure that the Council of Ministers abides by the Treaty of Concordia which allows the free movement of persons and professionals. St. Maarten/St. Martin has respected this treaty since 1648. Besides the Treaty of Concordia, the Association Treaty with the EU, also allows EU citizens (holders of French and Dutch passports) free movement of professionals and capital goods. It will be interesting to see how the current Council of Ministers will bypass these treaties to accomplish their goal to muzzle SMN News.
