PHILIPSBURG:--- The Ministry of Justice racked up Naf. 211,967.72 in the past six months on traveling expenses alone. The figures were given to Members of Parliament on Wednesday morning based on the questions posed by Member of Parliament Frans Richardson on Monday during the Central Committee meeting. The Ministry of General Affairs used up Naf. 54,313.55, Ministry of Finance 14, 953.64, Ministry of Education Naf. 53,656.85, Ministry of VSA (Labor and Social Affairs) Naf. 24,556.37, Ministry of TEATT Naf. 35,574.60, and the Ministry of VROMI Naf. 1,283.00.
Another startling revelation in the written response given to the Members of Parliament is the amount of monies the Government of St. Maarten is still paying to the former Ministers who formed the first and second cabinet namely SWW1 and SWW2. Former Minister Silveria Jacobs received 71,566.20 and her salary ends on June 30th, 2014, former Minister of Finance Roland Tuitt received Naf. 82,645.70 which also ends on June 30th, 2014. The first Minister of Finance who is also a civil servant but currently stays home received Naf. 202,357.86 and his salary will come to a halt on January 31st, 2014, former Minister of Education Rhoda Arrindell received Naf. 189,422.40 and her salary will also come to an end at the end of this month. Former Minister of VROMI Theo Heyliger who is now a Member of Parliament received Naf. 158,866.88 and his payment ended on October 01st, 2013, former Minister of TEATT Franklyn Meyers received Naf. 189,422.40 and his salary will come to an end on January 31st, 2014. Two former Ministers that were accused of collecting salaries after they left office were the former Minister William Marlin and former Minister Justice Roland Duncan both of whom were over the age of 60 when they left office.
There are also Members of Parliament that are still on the payroll such as Ruth Douglass who received Naf. 95, 412.55 which will end on September 30th, 2015. Also on the budget are the two former assistant Ministers of Plenipotentiary Richard Panneflek who received Naf. 29, 130,40 which will end on January 31st 2014 and Henrietta Doran York who received Naf. 56,744.81 which ends on March 31st, 2014.
At the opening of the plenary session of parliament on Wednesday the Minister of Finance gave a run down of the draft budget, while the other Ministers that were present gave PowerPoint presentations on their plan of action for the rest of their term.
Members of Parliament George Pantophlet, Dr. Lloyd Richardson, and Patrick Illidge made their presentations prior to the meeting being adjourned for lunch.
MP Richardson stressed on several concerns he has regarding the health care sector while Member of Parliament Patrick Illidge who has to face legal ramifications in the ORCA investigation said he will present a motion to build a community center for the Middle Region area. Another point of concern MP Illidge raised is the funds that were set aside for the foundation that will provide second chances for people who got themselves entangled with law.
National Alliance Members Participated in Budget Debate in Protest.
Members of the National Alliance faction in Parliament made their intentions known on the onset of Wednesday morning when they informed the chair that they will participate in the 2014 budget debate but they are doing so in protest. Independent Member of Parliament Frans Richardson also expressed the same sentiments.
The MPs informed the chair that democracy was hijacked based on how the chair handled the meeting. The MPs said the chair closed the first round of the central committee meeting prior to the Ministers answering the questions they posed to them.
MP William Marlin made clear that he did not even receive an official notification for the plenary session that was held on Wednesday. Marlin said that the questions that Members of Parliament asked on Monday were not answered by the Ministers.
Marlin posed several questions to the Ministers regarding the monies they budgeted for short-term workers, he also asked about the casino fees that were to be collected from casinos over years. He further asked about the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) that is due to civil servants. Marlin said they did not see anything budgeted in the draft budget of 2014.
Marlin also made a proposal to Parliament to limit the amount of MPs that attend Parlatino meetings overseas. He said over the past two years a number of MPs travel abroad to attend these meetings and most of the time they are not on the island. He said his proposal is to cut back on the amount of people traveling, this does not mean that they are isolating themselves, it just means that the delegation will be smaller and the traveling budget of Parliament can be cut and be used to complete the Little League Stadium. Currently, Parliament has close to Naf. 800,000.00 for its traveling expenses.
Another topic Marlin discussed is the purchasing of the Emilio Wilson Estate which the Minister of VROMI is trying to blame him for. He said while he was in office a purchase agreement was drafted and agreed upon and for some reason the SWW3 cabinet wants the harbor holding company to do the purchase. Marlin said if that is how government wants to go then when it is purchased then it must be designated to those that have to make proper use of it and protect it as one of our historical sites.
Marlin made clear that the questions posed on this particular subject was not properly answered because the Ministers in Parliament seemed to be throwing the ball from one Minister to the other, instead the one Minister who is responsible for the purchase of the project should be the one to provide the answers to Parliament.
What is the Cause of Water Shortages?
Marlin also called on the Minister of VROMI who is also in charge of GEBE to tell Parliament exactly why there is so much water shortages on the island because these shortages have been affecting several persons on the island including students and workers.
Member of Parliament Theodore Heyliger reminded the chairlady of the parliament that she too can use the phrase "you do not have the word" and that she should not be intimidated by the "men" in parliament. Heyliger said some media houses called the draft 2014 budget a skeleton budget. However, he has seen some worse budgets during his time in government. In regards to schools, MP Heyliger told the Minister of Education that she should try to work closely with the Ministry of VROMI to have repairs be done on a timely manner. He said he believes that inventories should be done during the school year in order to facilitate faster repairs. Heyliger even suggested that the designs of the schools should be revamped because some ceilings, steps and tiling are very dangerous and sometimes students get hurt while in school.
MP Heyliger asked the Minister of Education to provide Parliament with information on USM and if they are still in financial difficulties. As for the Ministry of VROMI, he wants to know how many hindrance permits were requested and what are the procedures that have to be followed prior to these permits being issued. MP Heyliger also asked the Minister to tell Parliament about building permits, then he moved to the roads and the signs that are being placed on the roads. He commended the Minister of VROMI for the current road repairs but said he should also look into purchasing land to construct homes for the people of St. Maarten.
He asked the Minister of VROMI to give some explanation on the "tunnel" vision, he wants to know if the Minister saw the plans for the tunnel and if he sat with the company that was supposed to build the tunnels. He said he also wants to make clear that it's because of the tunnel Union Road was not fixed. He said he wants to know how the tunnels would be financed.
MP Heyliger even mentioned the road tax that was not paid last year and what government could have done with the monies that was not collected. He said to him the road tax payment created last year was some sort of "Ponzi Scheme" that would have facilitated the people that did not pay.
The first round of the budget debate continued during the night on Wednesday. SMN News will bring you the outcome of the debate in a subsequent report.
