PHILIPSBURG:--- Members of Parliament representing the National Alliance presented a motion of no confidence against Minister of VROMI Maurice Lake after showing that the Minister lied to Parliament on several occasions when discussing the purchase of Emilio Wilson Estate.
Leader of the National Alliance William Marlin was stopped by the Chairlady of Parliament Gracita Arrindell just when Marlin was about to read the motion citing that the Member of Parliament ran out of his speakers time in the second round. Marlin in his address questioned the answers the Minister submitted to parliament on a plain sheet of paper. MP Marlin said the written answers were not even on the Ministry's letterhead and neither was it signed. During the meeting of parliament the Minister submitted the corrected format to the Members of Parliament. Marlin also complained about the time in which they received the documents which was during lunch hour on Thursday when the meeting adjourned. He said Members of Parliament were not able to read the documents sent to them. Marlin said even though he got those documents late he saw where the Minister again lied to parliament in other instances. Marlin asked Minister Lake to provide proof that Millenium and Corsia started court cases against government. MP Marlin said that it's unacceptable for Ministers to tell blatant lies to parliament and get away with it. Marlin labelled Minister Lake as pathological liar because he said the Minister lied on several occasions to Parliament.
The motion was read and submitted to Parliament by Member of Parliament Louis Laveist. Laveist also called Minister Maurice Lake a pathological liar. MP Laveist said that on March 6th, 2014 during a Central Committee Meeting of Parliament Minister Lake lied when he said that the letter of intent signed by former Minister of VROMI William Marlin was not booked in. Further, Laveist said that the motion was in order because Minister Lake lied to parliament when he stated that at least two companies took government to court. Laveist challenged the Minister by telling him that if he is not lying about the letter published in one of the daily newspapers that is signed by Henri Brookson then he should take Mr. Brookson to court because Brookson does not have immunity like MPs have while on the floor of parliament. He said that the leader of the United People's Party got a whopping from the Prime Minister for saying his party was ready for elections. "Mama took out her belt and she gave the UP leader a whopping bringing him back on his knees, today he crawled back in with the DP who got exactly what they wanted, reason why they (DP) did not support the motion."
Independent Member of Parliament Frans Richardson also lambasted the Minister for lying to parliament in earlier meetings. MP Richardson said that he asked the Minister if the Minister and other persons including the CEO of the Harbor Group of Companies Mark Mingo and MP Theodore Heyliger attended a meeting at the Emilio Wilson Estate where they tried to cut a deal with Henri Brookson and offered to purchase the estate for $24 million. MP Richardson said when he asked that question the Minister denied attending any such meeting but a letter printed in one of the local newspapers again proved that Minister Maurice Lake lied to parliament. MP Richardson called on Minister Lake to come clean and tell Parliament who exactly is lying because he asked about the meeting held and the deal that was offered of $22 or $24 million to Henri Brookson.
MP Frans Richardson further stated that he knew that Members of the Democratic Party were in cahoots with other Members of Parliament to vote a motion of no confidence against Minister Lake but from the way it looked the DP MPs are backing out because they got what they wanted which is to hold election on August 29th, 2014.
MP Johan Janchi Leonard in his remarks said he will not support the motion presented by the National Alliance but if a motion is submitted against MPs that are convicted and sitting in parliament he will support it. MP Leonard said the convicted MP was convicted by a court of law yet he has the biggest mouth. He called on Members of Parliament to get over the EWE issue and let them work for the people of St. Maarten.
Minister Lake in responding to Parliament when the meeting opened on Thursday said that the letter signed by former Minister William Marlin was booked in but it was not booked in under VROMI. Minister Lake also read a letter to parliament that he said was written by a civil servant who explained that the letter in question was submitted to DIV just before 5pm on a Friday afternoon and she probably did not follow proper procedures out of haste.
Minister Lake in his response said that he was not in parliament to beg for any job, he further stated that the only thing he has is his name and he does not play with his name. He asked the Members of Parliament what type of message they are sending to the people of St. Maarten regarding persons that work hard. The Minister of VROMI said ever since he took office he has been working very hard for the people of St. Maarten.
Member of Parliament Romain Laville in motivating his vote on the motion presented by the MPs of the National Alliance said he was blamed twice for throwing down the government, but this time around he voted against the motion because he will not take the blame for sending home a Minister for other people's political agenda. MP Roy Marlin cautioned the Minister by informing him that he should do proper research prior to coming to Parliament before voting against the motion. MP Petrus Leroy De Weever asked the MPs that presented the motion to withdraw the motion since he believed that the Minister was chastised enough. MP De Weever then voted against the motion. Of the 15 votes casts, four voted for the motion while 10 voted against the motion, MP Frans Richardson abstained from voting.
