PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot Williams announced on Wednesday during the Council of Ministers' weekly press briefing that she invited the unions to a meeting to be held on Thursday regarding the Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) for civil servants. Wescot Williams said she will be attending the meeting along with Minister of Education Patricia Lourens and Minister of Finance Martin Hassink. The Prime Minister said in the letter she sent to the unions she apologized to them because government received several letters from the unions, some of which she said crossed paths and government did not respond to them.
Wescot Williams said she attempted to put things back on track through her letter to the unions. She said when she looked at the paper trail there has been communication between the GOA and government which stared in August 2012. The Prime Minister said that in June 2012 the COLA for 2010 was paid out and after that took place government informed the GOA of their intention to discuss the COLA payment and its current structure.
Wescot Williams stressed that she sat in meetings with the GOA on more than one occasion to discuss government's position. She further explained that there is a law that governs the GOA which existed since the island was part of the former Netherlands Antilles and it was transferred to country St. Maarten without any changes to the law which she described as a brief law. Wescot Williams made clear that the GOA is an independent body that advises government. The Prime Minister further stated that none of the Members of the Council of Ministers have a role in the GOA but they do advice government on matters related to personnel.
Wescot Williams said she put in writing government's position on the issue of the COLA which she asked the GOA to communicate to their members. Wescot Williams explained that in her correspondence to the GOA she outlined government's position for the COLA for year 2011 while asking them to give government their advice.