PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Maurice Lake seems to have gotten exactly what he wanted from the leader of the United Peoples Party in order for him to remain a member of the United Peoples Party and to keep the shaky coalition in-tact.
SMN News learnt that MP Maurice Lake wanted to remain in his position as the Minister of VROMI when the UPP/De Weever coalition was formed but his party leader Theodore Heyliger allegedly denied him his request stating that he did not do what he "Heyliger" wanted him to do while he was a Minister. According to the information SMN News received is that MP Heyliger recently made a deal with MP Lake to make him the Minister of VROMI if he stays with the UPP and he will also have a 100% guarantee that if the government should fall he will get back his seat as an Member of Parliament since that is the arrangement he will make with the incoming Member of Parliament Maria Buncamper Molanus.
Sources within the UPP camp said Heyliger is having major problems with all Members of Parliament that was elected on the UPP slate since he decided upon himself to remove Minister Claret Connor without consulting with them. The source further stated that even the coalition partners are in disagreement with Heyliger's decision to give Independent Member of Parliament Leona Marlin- Romeo a Ministry at this time because when they negotiated with Marlin- Romeo she agreed to accept the vice-chair of parliament for her support.
The UP insider said that the UPP members had decided that they will all appoint the Ministers when the coalition was formed but that did not happen. The source said that Heyliger made the appointments of the Ministers by himself and the only Minister they were able to appoint was the Minster of TEATT Claret Connor who will soon be out in the cold because Heyliger suddenly decided to give Independent Member of Parliament Leona Marlin- Romeo the Ministry that Minister Connor has which created an uproar within the UPP camp. "It's not one or two MPs from the UPP camp that are upset but it's all of them. The MPs within the UPP camp feel as though they are treated as puppets because they are not even allowed to ask a question or make a comment when it comes to the functioning of government, those UPP MPs felt that there is no unity within the party and what has happened is that they have to submit themselves to a dictator who does not want any other MP from the UPP to shine. This is not about the people that were elected it's all about Heyliger." The UPP insider said when Maurice Lake was Minister of VROMI he came up with a project to construct the Simpson Bay boardwalk but because the idea did not come from Heyliger he shot it down." The UP insider said that the UPP MPs are not even free to speak to each other because the moment Heyliger sees one of his MPs speaking with another one he believes they are forming a plot against him.
VORST ESTATE.
According to the UPP insider the politicians on the opposition benches are not doing enough to bring government to its knees. "Can you imagine former Minister Maurice Lake signed an agreement to purchase the VORST Estate for $495.00 per square meter and the opposition did not force to see the agreement the former Minister now Member of Parliament signed? In that agreement a portion of the monies were to be placed in a separate account, that money allegedly was to be split up among those that were instrumental in getting the sale go through, but when the opposition and former Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams refused to sign off on the purchase agreement and to make up a Landsbesluit the leader of the UPP went to the family and asked them to drop the price in order for the sale to go through. The Vorst family agreed to drop the price by one million USD dollars because that was the amount they agreed to put on a separate account as a commission for the former Minister and his team who worked on the purchase agreement. Now that the family dropped the price it is alleged that the former Minister went to look to see if anything will be placed in the "cookie jar" for him and it is then he found out what his leader told the family to do in order for the sale to go through, meaning if the purchase goes through there will be no commission for the former Minister and his team.
Jobs for Locals --- MPs want Arabs out of Government Building.
The UPP insider also said that MP Franlin Meyers and MP Tamara Leonard wanted the Minister of Finance to get rid of two assistants that are working with the Ministry of Finance, they are Ludwig Ouenniche and Ramzy Dennaoui.
The source said that the two Members of Parliament felt that there are too many young people who campaigned for the UPP during the 2014 parliamentary elections based on a promise that they will get a job within government. The UPP insider said that the two MPs that approached Heyliger felt that Ouenniche is old enough and he does not need to be in government while they felt that Dennaoui is an Arab who could find work within the business community. The source further explained that when the MPs approached Heyliger on this matter he bluntly to refused to remove the two persons claiming that both of them were appointed by the Minister of Finance Martin Hassink.
Matster and Heyliger Warfare – two male crabs can't live in the same hole.
As for the feud between MP Theodore Heyliger and Silvio Matser who cannot be reached the insider said that Heyliger threw Matser "under the bus" because Matser is someone who could get things done and he is not afraid to stand up and ask questions or make comments and this is something Heyliger cannot deal with. "MP Matser is not afraid of Heyliger and he constantly questions him or puts him on the spot that is why he Heyliger chose to go to the newspaper and threw MP Matser "under the bus" while he is off island. It's like having two male crabs living in the same hole." The insider went as far as stating that Heyliger would say that he does not want a convict in his camp but so far he has not given Matser a letter requesting that he resign from his position in Parliament.
The insider alleged that MP Matser went to question the Prime Minister on some building permits that are being held up at the Department of VROMI and when he approached the Prime Minister he was told that the only way those building permits will be signed is if MP Theodore Heyliger approves them. Efforts made to reach MP Matser and MP Theodore Heyliger proved futile on Thursday.
