PHILIPSBURG:--- The sentiment on St. Maarten and the surrounding islands since the arrest of MP Christopher Emmanuel and his chief of cabinet Marisha Richardson gives the people on St. Maarten and the surrounding islands the feelings that there are things to hide in the Ministry of VSA.
Several persons contacted SMN News and asked who is behind what looks like a complot to silence MP Christopher Emmanuel who is very vocal about the functioning of the Ministry of VSA and the former ousted Minister Emil Lee who took several questionable decisions with the spending of the pension funds managed by USZV.
Emmanuel expressed his concerns and even joined other MPs when they did research on the New General Hospital and the contracted bankrupt company INSO which Emmanuel made known on the floor of parliament.
Besides that, it is known locally that MP Emmanuel is the candidate Minister for the Ministry of VSA and certainly if he is appointed interim Minister of VSA he will unearth the decisions taken by ousted Minister of VSA Emil Lee and the director of USZV Glen Carty.
Those concerned said that the internal auditor who was the Chairlady of the Supervisory Board of USZV Sharine Daniel applied for the deputy director’s position at USZV and even though Daniel is the local candidate that scored the highest she is yet to be appointed to the contested position. SMN News learned that the members of USZV supervisory board were ordered to shelve the report on the selection process because they are afraid Daniel will also unearth the unlimited spending of USZV Director Glen Carty.
The Prosecutor’s Office said after a lengthy investigation the two suspects were arrested on Tuesday, however, the complaints filed against Emmanuel about the decisions he took to award local St. Maarteners domain land were done at the end 2017 yet only now that Emmanuel name surfaced as a candidate Minister his home was raided and he was arrested . A statement from the Prosecutor’s Office states that the two were arrested on suspicion of abuse of function and forgery or complicity in such acts, during their tenure at VROMI. The suspects are accused of unlawfully long leasing government land to acquaintances at the end of their tenure in 2017. As a result, other applicants were disadvantaged.
Seemingly, those investigating just woke up from a long sleep because almost each Minister of VROMI made sure they awarded domain land to their supporters during elections after all these people are locals that applied for domain land, however, Emmanuel is the only one that has been arrested for abuse of function.
Former Ministers of TEATT also awarded themselves and families several taxis, tours and bus licenses to their friends and families but to date, no arrests have been made, currently, taxi drivers are disadvantaged by the large amount of taxi and tour licenses that were given out.
It behooves the Attorney General and Prosecutor’s Office to come clean and inform the people of St. Maarten what sparked the investigation and who really filed complaints against Emmanuel and Richardson. Were these arrests made so that Emmanuel fail the screening process and whatever happened in the Ministry of VSA will remain under the proverbial carpet?
Ousted Minister of VSA Emil Lee said publicly on a radio station that he had filed a complaint against Emmanuel on the land distribution but today he is denying doing such. So who really filed complaints or what sparked this investigation and subsequent arrests.?
However, SMN News published photos showing Lee using a government number plate on his private vehicle and also using government bonds to collect diesel for his personal use namely, to keep the generators of his hotel running post-IRMA. When exactly will the Prosecutors Office conduct raids to find the files that the Gas Station owner turned over to Lee in Simpson Bay post-IRMA is a questioned that needs an answer.
