Marigot:--- The thirteen women on the slate of "Team Daniel Gibbes" met with members of the media on Thursday to express the reasons why they chose to postulate themselves for the March 18th Territorial Election and why they chose Daniel Gibbes list over the others. The women made clear that women represent 50% of the voters but most importantly they are the pillars of the social, educational, and family structure on the island.They said that when they look at the social epidemic facing St. Martin they had no other choice but to make themselves available to work in the interest of the island and the younger generation. Helen Hunt a former civil servant for the commune and Collectivity said she was forced to take leave of absence when she realized the incumbent government headed by President Frantz Gumbs was not willing to do anything to develop St. Martin and its people. Hunt said she submitted several projects to the Management of the Collectivity during her stint working for them but these projects were placed in a draw and no one including the President approved it. The former civil servant said that she even approached the President with a delegation and asked him to approve a project where she would train her colleagues on the functioning of the Community Councils but that too he refused to allow. "The Community Councils were established based on an advise of 1997 which had all the elements on how those councils should function but the incumbent government installed the councils but did not provide the assets and materials which would allow the councils to make their contribution to the development of St. Martin. "When I requested my leave of absence those in the Collectivity thought I wanted to enter politics but that was not my intention. I was so disgusted that I needed to get away from St. Martin to find myself. However, when I came back to the island I read a newspaper article on the decision Daniel Gibbes took to leave the Union pour les Progres and then I said finally someone has the gaul to fight back and to do what is right for the people of St. Martin." Hunt further explained that St. Martin does not have the financial capability to do many things but if the government had shown some type of willingness they would have been able to assist the various associations to obtain funding from Interreg and other European funds that are available to St. Martin. "You know St. Martin has a lot of associations with good intentions but they all need help to put together projects so they can obtain those funds and the government that sat there for five years was not willing to assist its people to move forward." Hunt said that the other five political parties approached her and asked her to join them but none of them convinced her that they were ready to work for St. Martin.
Dominique Aubert told reporters that she knows that monies would be needed to run St. Martin but besides that, government has a lot of work to do to redevelop the social fabric on St. Martin. "Right now the students attending our schools needs attention, they need to know how important it is to be respectful, and how important it is to hold a job. We don't need monies to visit the schools and encourage our youths to stay on the right track. We have parents that are entering the schools and are attacking teachers we don't so much money to make them know that these types of behaviors are not acceptable." As for Sofia Carti, she said the other political lists were seeking native St. Martiners to be on their list. Carti said she was not born on St. Martin but she was raised here and for her St. Martin is her home, besides that she has vested interest on the island. She says she is still very young and stands ready to work for the development of the youth and the island. Another young vibrant woman on Team Daniel Gibbs is Valerie Damaseau. Damaseau readily admitted that St. Martin does not have money but she believed that Government must do more to attract foreign investors to re-invest in the island. She said the incumbent government did not seek to redevelop the French side instead they look at ways and means to tax the poorer people. She said she cannot understand why the incumbent government did not develop a strong youth policy, or a strong business development plan for the island. Damaseau said that Daniel Gibbes is the leader of their list but it will take joint efforts to develop the island. She urged her other colleagues to prepare themselves for the election slurs that will be flung at them during the campaign that is scheduled to start Tuesday March 5th. "I want to urge you to try and heal quickly after the election and to accept the outcome of the election on March 25th.
Click here to view the women on Team Daniel Gibbes sharing their views on Thursday.
- GIBBES DANIEL Notaire Diplômé
- AUBERT DOMINIQUE Directrice de centre de formation
- CHARVILLE JULES Gérant d'entreprise
- MANUEL - PHILIPS ANNETTE Cadre de banque
- HENOCQ CHRISTOPHE Directeur du Musée, directeur d'association
- ASCENT – GIBBS MAUD Retraitée de l'État
- RIBOUD DOMINIQUE Dentiste
- HERAULT MYRIAM Commerçante
- HABICHDOBINGER STEPHANE Assistant de direction
- RAMPHORT MARIE DOMINIQUE Expert-comptable
- WILLIAMS RÉMY Homme d'affaire
- HUNT HÉLÈNE Administratrice
- CHARLES DANIEL Entrepreneur
- DAMASEAU VALÉRIE Directrice d'entreprise
- PAROTTE GEORGES Chauffeur de taxi
- CARTI-CODRINGTON SOFIA Entrepreneur
- LAKE AMBROISE Responsable exploitation aéroportuaire
- GAMIETTE MARLÈNE Gérante de société
- WELLINGTON LUC Entrepreneur
- TONDU CAROLE Directrice de centre de formation
- CHARBHE RAJ Auxiliaire financier
- THEMINE RYTA LAURE Psychiatre
- DELDEVERT GUY Entrepreneur
- ARRONDELL MARIE-ANNICK Technicienne d'Intervention Social et familial
- HANSON EUGÈNE Entrepreneur
- HUNT JUDITH Assistante dentaire