DP Faction plans to take back draft timeshare legislation and move forward with them in Parliament.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The leader of the Democratic Party and Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot Williams told reporters on Tuesday that she has several concerns with the current government, one being the status of the Waste to Management Plant. Wescot Williams said that based on the statements made by GEBE utility company whom she said stated that such a project is too expensive for the government owned company to handle while the Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs she said is going around in circles when he is asked about this particular project. Because of the lack of proper information the Democratic Party faction parliament secured the support from two Members of the National Alliance namely, MP William Marlin and MP Silveria Jacobs and they submitted request to Parliament calling for an urgent meeting to get information on this particular project since the situation at the Landfill is hazardous while the landfill has already outlived its lifespan. She said that they motivated their reasons for wanting an urgent meeting on this matter since there are conflicting stories out there in the public.
The Democratic Party is also concerned about several projects that are being stagnated, one being the drainage plan which has not yet been approved by government, the upgrade of Well Road, Union Road and Orange Grove. Wescot Williams said the upgrading of Union Road should have been completed since this was part of the causeway project which was co-financed by the St. Maarten Harbor Group of Companies. She said she also concerned about the European Development fund (EDF) which government was supposed to work on and the OP. All of this she said started during the last governing period and in her view as this Parliamentary year open it is the time for Members of Parliament and Government to get things moving.
Another issue the DP faction is concerned about the lack of the Time Share Legislation which the Democratic Party worked on while they were in Government during the last governing period. Wescot Williams said she recently asked the current Minister of Tourism Claret Connor for information on the draft legislation which was put together by experts both from St. Maarten and abroad but to her surprise the written response she got from the Minister indicated that his legal team plans to ‘redo’ the draft legislation. She said that she advised the Minister to sit with the persons who prepared the draft legislation to regulate the timeshare industry in order for them to trash out what is wrong with the current draft according to his new legal team. Wescot Williams said that the Minister agreed to meet with the person who worked on the draft but should the Minister delay the process she intends to take back the draft legislation she worked on and make sure it is presented to Parliament through her faction in Parliament. Wescot Williams said she plans to do the same for other draft legislations that her team worked on while she was part of the executive branch of government. The other being the amendment to the civil code to regulate the short term contracts.
Advisor to the DP Faction Emil Lee said in a press statement and at the press conference on Tuesday that had government worked in the Time Share Legislation it would have prevented the disaster at one of the island’s resorts. Lee said that there is a lot of damage done to St. Maarten on the blogs but situations such as these are preventable. Below is the press release from Emil Lee.
Where is the Timeshare legislation that would have helped prevent this disaster?
By Emil Lee DP advisor
We celebrate the legal victory of the handful of timeshare tourists who were willing to organize against a well funded and larger opponent, put up their own money, and fight for their rights to keep their timeshare weeks as purchased, but what we don’t see are the thousands of timeshare owners at the former Caravanserai who gave up and as a consequence signed away their rights. Sadly, the collateral damage to our tourism industry translates into a tainted reputation for St Maarten, lost jobs and lost contributions into St Maarten’s economy.
The draft legislation which would regulate the Timeshare industry has been working its way through our Parliamentary system for many years is still not approved. Supported by ARDA ROC and the SMTA, this legislation would have helped to prevent this travesty and yet still awaits debate and ratification. Through MP Wescott-Williams and previously MP De Weever, the DP has been and will continue to champion the need for timeshare legislation.
(According to newspaper reports)Last week the Court of First Instance ruled in favor of the Timeshare Owners at Caravanserai Association or TOCA and 17 individual members. Of the 2200 timeshare owners, 62 TOCA members and 17 individual members received news that their agreements are protected by law and therefore could not be nullified. This means that many of the other 2100+ owners that signed an agreement to accept Alegria’s notification that their previous ownership rights had been nullified and that Alegria would offer hotel units against payment, have unwittingly signed away their rights.
Clearly the losers of this fiasco are the people of St. Maarten and the timeshare owners who did not choose to fight for their rights. Just read the blogs to see the damage that has been done to the timeshare industry and in St Maarten’s reputation in particular.
The private sector provided key moral support; however, what was embarrassingly missing was any support from Government or even the least bit of encouragement for what is one of our most important sources of tourism revenues. This does not even consider any moral responsibilities we have to our loyal visitors. This is typical of our government’s approach to tourism these days and represents a clear and present danger to each and every citizen of St. Maarten.
St. Maarten has been the envy of every other Caribbean island when it comes to the success and vibrancy of St. Maarten’s timeshare tourism. Many other islands would covet the stable tourism base that we have in our timeshare visitors. The number of jobs in our economy due to timeshare tourism is a substantial percentage of the total. The independent business men and women, from taxi drivers, to corner snack bars, to pharmacists, to graduating young adults looking for work or opportunities, and more that rely on our timeshare tourists is staggering.
The Democratic Party has campaigned for open government and will continue at every opportunity to advocate for an inclusive government with integrity that is transparent, accountable and fiscally responsible. It is a well-established fact that the citizens of a country that have an open government are more prosperous and happy.
