~ UPP and NA call on the Council of Ministers to provide solutions. ~
PHILIPSBURG: --- Leader of the United Peoples Party Omar Ottley called on Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina and his cabinet to provide the parliament of St. Maarten with solutions to the GEBE crisis. Ottley made clear that he personally did not see the presentation Mercelina gave parliament in the closed-door segment of the Central Committee meeting held on Monday morning. He said that the Prime Minister is pleading with parliament not to play politics with the GEBE crisis.
He asked where is the plan to deal with the crisis when exactly will the population of St. Maarten receive relief? Ottley made clear, that it does not matter if the Mercelina cabinet is in office for six weeks or two weeks, reality is they are there now, and the people want relief.
Member of Parliament Akeem Arrindell shared the same sentiments as his party leader and asked for tangible solutions.
Member of Parliament Viren Kotai asked the board of NV GEBE who is to blame for the crisis the current council of ministers inherited. He advised the management of NV GEBE and the Council of Ministers to approach APS to secure finances to deal with the problems NV GEBE is facing. Kotai said that so far, based on what he read, NV GEBE has not defaulted on their loans for the past 20 years. He said that APS has invested overseas and has no return on their investments. He asked when the last time the financial statements of NV GEBE were audited and where exactly they had looked for financing.
Member of Parliament of the National Alliance Cloyd Marlin questioned the Prime Minister on his statements regarding political rhetoric and the fact that members of parliament supporting the 2 x 4 coalition have made statements that have blamed the former council of ministers. Marlin called on parliament and the council of ministers to do what is right by having a meaningful discussion that will bring about solutions.
Marlin asked who the Chief Operations Officer of NV GEBE was. He said that person is now sitting in the executive branch of the 2 x 4 government. Marlin said that person could have brought solutions to the crisis.
Marlin asked about the solutions that NV GEBE has on the table. He asked what the cost of an electricity barge to St. Maarten will be and how long it will take.
Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel said he would sling mud and blame the former government, namely UPP and National Alliance because they were the worst government to have been in office for a full four-year term. He said the 2 x 4 did not give the Grid market any exclusivity. He also said that it was the former government that appointed the members of the supervisory board and the Temporary Manager.
Emmanuel described the former government as a set of vindictive people, he even mentioned the fact that he could not obtain a building permit for his business, he indicated that since the 2 x 4 entered office he received the permit.
He asked the Council of Ministers how it was possible that they were able to get rid of the Chief Executive Officer of TELEM and the Director of the Kadastre but they are not able to remove the members of the Supervisory Board of NV GEBE and the Temporary Manager of NV GEBE and the Chief Executive Officer of PJIAE.
Emmanuel further stated that St. Maarten is not in a crisis but instead it is in a comatose state, he said since the doctor took the helm, he amputated the arms and limbs of NV GEBE and did not provide the prosthetic limbs to hold the company up. He cautioned the Prime Minister that he was not pulling his support from his 2 x 4, but there were times when they had to hear harsh statements.
Emmanuel said he does not believe anything that GEBE tells the parliament or the people of St. Maarten simply because he does not trust them. He further said that the government he supports said they could do a better job; thus, he wants Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina to present parliament with the solutions his experts and advisors provided him with. He asked what the plans NV GEBE has in place to compensate its customers for their damaged appliances are.
He asked if the chief engineer resigned from NV GEBE? And the reasons behind the resignation.
UPP MP Francisco Lacroes called on parliament and the government to stop their game-playing and begin to tell the truth. Based on the stack of old newspapers and motions he has, the same members of parliament passed in 2011.
Lacroes said that if the parliament of St. Maarten and the council of ministers did not stop the political rhetoric, he would open a “bobol” on the floor of parliament.
