PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Franklin Meyers and the leader of the United Peoples Party (UPP) Theodore Heyliger made clear in their presentation to Parliament on Thursday that the draft 2015 budget is not a budget that would reflect the Governing Program of the current coalition government.
MP Meyers called on Members of Parliament to come together despite their political differences and secure St. Maarten's one pillar economy "tourism" especially now that Cuba has opened up its tourism market.
Member of Parliament Theodore Heyliger in his presentation said that the draft 2015 budget that is now being debated in the Central Committee meeting of Parliament does not belong to the UP/De Weever/LRMarlin/USP coalition government. "For me this budget is like an orphan child that has no owner but someone has to defend it. What the Parliament of St. Maarten is currently doing is something that is procedural to avoid any type of instruction from the Netherlands." Heyliger said that the country has to submit a balanced budget at certain time and if they don't then they are penalized so while we are debating a budget to meet the deadline, this budget does not represent his government. Heyliger further asked if the monies to purchase the Vorst property was budgeted because for him that family has gone through enough.
The budget debate resumed on Friday morning where Minister of TEATT Claret Conner attempted to answer most of the questions posed to him followed by the Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson.
Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs also provided answers to the questions posed to him by the various Members of Parliament. Prime Minister Gumbs also informed Parliament that the Vorst family submitted a second request to the Council of Ministers for the sale of their property. Gumbs said that the new proposal submitted by the Vorst is one million less than the first price and that was approved by the current Council of Ministers.
However, several of the Members of Parliament asked the Ministers for clarifications because some of the questions they posed on Thursday were not answered. Member of Parliament Christopher Emmanuel informed the Minister of Finance that he did not ask about a court case when he asked for the exact amount of monies AUC received as gift. Emmanuel also asked for direct answers on Rainforest Adventures developing the Emilo Wilson Park. While MP Emmanuel was posing his questions MP William Marlin asked the chair if they had a quorum to continue the meeting since the UP MPs had left the tribune. MP Marlin even called for a roll call.
MP William Marlin also asked for further clarity on the government building and APS. MP Marlin said he wants to know what government's intention is regarding the sale of the Government Administration Building on Pond Island. He said he wanted to know what amount of monies government owes APS and if selling the government building would reduce the debt government owed to APS. Furthermore, MP Marlin wants to know what guarantee does the government have that APS will not do what they want with the building after the purchase. Prime Minister Marcel responded by saying APS is government owned so is the government building furthermore the building is an asset and it cannot be moved and taken anyway.
MP Silveria Jacobs asked for the advice given by the SER on the Counterpart policy in order to know the exact repercussion this would have on the island and its businesses. MP Jacobs said that the labor department could do more to curb the labor problem on St. Maarten and ensuring that locals are being employed.
The two day Central Committee draft budget debate ended with the Council of Ministers giving clarifications to the Members of Parliament before the meeting was closed off late Friday evening.
