PHILIPSBURG: --- Member of Parliament Francisco Lacroes, representing the United Peoples Party (UPP), called on the Minister of TEATT, Grisha Heyliger Marten, to inform parliament of all the investigations relating to the issuance of transportation licenses.
Lacroes said that inside the parliament building and outside of the building, his name is being called as one of the persons who issued licenses illegally. As such, he wants the minister to provide parliament with information on the investigations and clear his name. The Member of Parliament referenced an article published yesterday after the Minister presented to parliament and mentioned an upcoming clean-up.
Minister of TEATT Grisha Heyliger Marten told parliament on Monday that during January, the Inspectorate of Economic and Transport Affairs (IETA) will implement a re-registration process for all vehicle permit holders.
The aim, she said, is to create a more strategic confirmation letter process to combat rising fraud in the passenger transport sector. This updated approach will improve accountability, reduce fraudulent activities, and ensure permits are used actively and legitimately.
A confirmation letter, issued annually, is required for permit holders to obtain road tax for passenger transport vehicles. Reports of misuse and inactive use of permits have necessitated this new process. The Minister indicated that further details about the registration steps and deadlines will be published in the local newspaper later this week.
Lacroes asked the Minister about the law published in the National Gazette on issuing these licenses and revoking licenses that have not been exploited for over six months.
It should be noted that SOAB already submitted a draft report to the government of St. Maarten on the internal audit they conducted on Cycle 1B, Compliances with the legislation of taxi licenses.
The review of the issuance of taxi licenses highlighted several areas concerning the validity and completeness of application and documentation requirements.
Out of the applications that were reviewed, only a few were fully completed with the required documents.
Applicants did not even take the time to provide proper identification and basic tax information when applying for the licenses.
The applicants over 60 failed to provide a report from their medical practitioner.
SOAB also mentioned several other key violations, which will be released in another article.
Since the report was submitted, the department's senior staff has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation conducted by the Integrity Chamber.
