~ “ I will not fail my mother who has served her country as a civil servant Minister and Member of the Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles.”~
PHILIPSBURG: --- Deputy Prime Minister Egbert Jurendy Doran said in response to questions posed to the Council of Ministers regarding the instability in the parliament of St. Maarten that it is shameful that there are 9 factions in a 15-member parliament in St. Maarten. He said that he is of the opinion that all parliamentarians and Ministers should be able to hold one head for the greater good of the people of St. Maarten. Doran said he mentioned in a radio interview once that most of the things that are transpiring have nothing to do with work but instead it's all about personal matters, which he finds unfortunate.
Doran made clear, that as Ministers they are limited on what they are able to share with the public in order to protect them from any form of liability. He said the Ministers do have information that the general public is not privy to however, he is unable to express his full and personal opinion on the current situation.
He did say that nine persons signed an agreement in January 2020, and he believes that people should place value on their word, if not the public will judge based on what they have seen. He said because of private and personal matters the general public will have to go through some sort of instability while they are confusing the populace of St. Maarten.
Doran said in the near future the Ministers will be attending various interviews where they will inform the population of exactly what is taking place. “People cannot be saying one thing with their mouth, but their actions speak something else.”
Minister of Justice Anna Richardson, said that she is very much focused on completing the police law and salary scales since the function book has been completed by her person while it was not touched by other ministers.
Richardson said that she looks at every day as her last day since the island has been facing years of instability with the constant fall of the government and snap elections.
SMN News did ask the three Ministers if they did not believe it was time to dissolve the parliament of St. Maarten due to the division within the parliament.
“Poor political plays prevent’ progress,” the Minister of Justice said. She explained that each time the instability surfaces because of personal reasons while those affected are the ones on the ground especially the civil servants within the Ministry of Justice. Richardson said because of the instability personnel matters that affect the Ministry of Justice were neglected, therefore, she is not able to support the dissolution of parliament and call for new elections.
Minister of VSA and Acting Minister of TEATT Omar Ottley said he is very much focused on his work and he does not pay attention to the political games that are being played. Ottley said that the members of the Council of Ministers are just ministers that can be fired. However, he does believe that the people of St. Maarten would hold everyone accountable for their actions. Ottley said everyone has their rights and free mandate but reminded that all that was promised to the people of St. Maarten God Bless whoever messes it up.
Asked if he as the Minister of VROMI was pressured to grant members of parliament special favors such as land or water rights, Doran said because he is not free to divulge certain information, he will say that the present council of ministers were all elected by the voters on St. Maarten and not appointed by any Member of Parliament.
The Deputy Prime Minister further explained that over the past 12 years, the Council of Ministers comprised of persons that were appointed and not by people that postulated and got elected by the electorate. The young minister said that prior to taking office he heard stories and given lectures from previous Ministers who held the office of the Ministry of VROMI as well as senior persons within the community. “I thought I had a fairly good understanding of what it would take in the Ministry of VROMI however, I must say I did underestimate a lot of individuals and what they could do and the extent they would go to push their agenda. Doran did admit he faced pressure from certain persons that wanted certain things. “ I want to state here if I will get in trouble let that be on my own accord or my mistake, I will not jeopardize myself, my career, my name for any individual, I must also remind everyone that my mom served this country as a civil servant and as a Minister and member of parliament in the parliament of the Netherlands Antilles for years and I will be damned to mess that up for one individual and their personal interest.”
