Philipsburg:--- Member of Parliament George Pantophlet will be sending a letter to government, in particular the Minister of Finance Mr. Hiro Shigemoto with regards to the possibilities of the paying of dividend by government owned companies to government. The Draft Budget 2011 has been sent to the CFT for scrutiny. The time period given is two weeks and In the mean time it is only appropriate that government still look at other options whether the Committee for Financial Supervision approves the 2011 Draft Budget or not. We don't have to wait a whole year to ease the burden on the people. The proposed increase of the turn over tax from 3 to 5% and now the recent upcoming hike in gasoline prices slated for Friday are not making matters any easier on the people of St. Maarten. Not forgetting the threat of layoffs at Pelican Hotel. In this regard the following questions will be submitted on Friday today December 31, 2010 to government. Is it true that the executive council of the island Territory of Sint Maarten has established a dividend policy for all government owned corporations? If so, can government provide us with a copy of that policy and share with us the status of that policy? If not, why not? In the event such a policy has never been established, can government inform us if they intend to introduce legislation in an attempt to see to it that dividend will be paid to the coffers of government? Are there otherwise any agreements between government and the government owned companies on how these companies will contribute to the coffers of government? I do hope that we will not have to request a meeting of Parliament in order to have these questions answered. After all it is the people's patrimony.
