Blackman said government should make sure there agreements and are made in writing including questions which would provide clarity in the future. The finance commissioner also argued that if the central government has 13 cents or 13 million guilders for St. Maarten they need to pay it back. He said there is a court case pending regarding the withholding of St. Maarten's money and that shows that St. Maarten never agreed with the Central government. He cautioned that deals and agreements were made in lobby of the Marriot Hotel and that those in office should have made sure proper administration was done when dealing with public funds.
The commissioner also took blows from members of the Democratic Party faction who believed that the commissioner did not conduct proper research prior to sending the letter to the Minister or even speaking to the media. Island councilmember and former commissioner of finance Roy Marlin said the commissioner's statement has created the wrong impression. He asked if the commissioner made contact with the Windward Island Bank to see if monthly payments were made since the records show that no payments were made for July and December 2007. It turned out that the payments were indeed made but proper administration was not conducted. Marlin also asked if the commissioner verified his figures with the civil servants who are dealing with government finances for years now.
Island councilmember Leroy De Weever also took a turn on Blackman reminding him that he was appointed to work for the island council and that he should not meddle in politics. "Commissioner Blackman once appointed can also be disappointed" and while he commended Blackman for making clear that he did not suggest that any member of the island council was fiddling with government money he felt that Blackman was out of place with the statements he made to the media saying that 13 million guilders were either missing or unaccounted for.
While members of the National Alliance defended Blackman's position on the letter sent to the finance Minister independent member of the island council Louie Laveist made clear that the question posed by Blackman is a win win situation for St. Maarten. He said the council should wait on the response from the Central government and not jump to conclusions. Laveist said that he felt the meeting called was unnecessary because the commissioner is only trying to do his job when he ask for queries on St. Maarten's finances.
Senator and Island councilmember Rudolph Samuel said the only reason the Democratic Party called the meeting is because they are afraid their names were going to get dirty. Samuel said politics is in the air and there are people in this council who are former finance commissioners who are sitting on edge since they did not challenge the central government with written answers while in office.
