~ St. Maarten and its people are resilient; autonomy will not be sold out. ~
PHILIPSBURG: --- Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs announced on Wednesday that discussions are still ongoing with the Dutch Government and so far, there is still no agreement on the law to supervise finances on St. Maarten. Jacobs said that while there is still no agreement with the Dutch Government rest assure the autonomy the island fought for will not be sold out.
SMN News asked the Prime Minister what the plan B for the country is especially knowing that there might be only enough money in the government's coffers for December salaries. Jacobs admitted that the Minister of Finance did make that statement to parliament some time ago. However, she said that was what they had in the coffers but does not include what comes in daily or monthly. She said there is no guarantee if the country will make its 50% mark. However, she said that Curacao and Aruba rushed into signing off on the agreement because they lacked money and even though they did not agree on the consensus law.
Jacobs made clear that there are things within the government that must be improved however, they need to make sure the correct fixes are in place and not a plaster for a huge sore.
Jacobs said in the case of St. Maarten the country is still holding on as the discussions continue. She said that St. Maarten has to identify its challenges are, where they are and what will be their projections for the future.
The Prime Minister said she is currently awaiting an overview from the Ministry of TEATT which will be taken along in the continued discussions to secure liquidity support. Jacobs said that St. Maarten may make it through 2020 and even into January 2021. The amount she said that will be allotted to St. Maarten is NAF62M of which 40M will be for the SSRP support.
The Prime Minister said St. Maarten is indeed a resilient and magical country and she does believe in God, the people as well as the investors that know the country’s potential. Jacobs said she is of the opinion that St. Maarten will make it through holding its head high however, she said if St. Maarten has to agree conditions the discussions are to mitigate that there will be no take over by the Dutch government and the country will not lose its autonomy.
