Philipsburg:--- Minister of Justice Roland Duncan displayed arrogance and disrespect towards Members of Parliament especially towards the leader of the National Alliance William Marlin who posed several questions to the Justice Minister during a central committee meeting on Friday.During Marlin's presentation and questions to the Minister in the first round of the meeting Minister Duncan asked for a point of clarification claiming that the statements Marlin was making did not coincide with the agenda point that was being discussed. The Minister claimed that Marlin was playing politics and that he was using the central committee meeting to grandstand. Minister Duncan further stated that he will not accept such treatment from the Members of Parliament since Ministers are party to the debates in Parliament. He said the questions Marlin posed sounded as though he was being interrogated. As the meeting continued, Minister Duncan referred to statements and the questions posed as nonsensical.
The Minister made clear that he was not a child and he will not accept for Members of Parliament to berate him. Later in the meeting, Minister Duncan apologized for the use of the harsh words claiming that he should have been more diplomatic when answering to parliament.
Member of Parliament William Marlin who was obviously angry and disturbed at the statements made by the Minister made clear that he will not accept the Minister's disrespectful behavior when answering to Parliament. Marlin said the questions he posed to the Minister were legitimate questions all relating to the Brooks Tower Two procedures. Marlin quoted several statements from the BTA report that was issued by the committee that was established by the Minister to vet the applications submitted to the BTA team.
The senior Member of Parliament asked the Minister if he agreed to the recommendations made by the committee on how to proceed with the BTA process. This of course angered the Minister and he responded by saying that whether or not he agreed was not Marlin's business. Chiding the Minister for his behavior and reactions towards the leader of the National Alliance was Member of Parliament Louie Laveist. Laveist informed the Minister and President of Parliament that the people's business is the affairs of those elected to office. Both Laveist and Marlin warned that the Ministers must show respect to the Members of Parliament.
Marlin indicated to Parliament that for anyone to understand where they are going they first have to understand where the BTA came from and how it all started. The Member of Parliament said for years St. Maarten had a large number of undocumented foreigners who were residing on the island illegally. Many of these persons he said had children that were born on the island and they too did not have legal documents.
Marlin said to address the immigration catastrophe Government and the former Minister of Justice Magali Jacoba decided to divide these persons into three categories. Category 1 was for persons who were able to provide proof that they arrived on St. Maarten before December 31 2001, while category two was for persons who could have proved that they came to St. Maarten before January 1 2002 including up to December 31 2005. As for category 3, he said that was persons who arrived on St. Maarten after 2005 and they had to leave the island or face deportation by May 2010.
Marlin said when they first called the Minister to Parliament they were not satisfied with the answers he provided to them then and they are still not satisfied with Minister who allowed persons from category 3 to apply during the BTA 2 process for a permit. The National Alliance Leader and Member of Parliament said the BTA 2 was meant only for extension of the permits granted during BTA 1.
Marlin referred to the report issued by the committee which stated that that BTA two process was not meant for new applications and that category 3 should not have been allowed to apply.
Marlin reminded that it was the Minister who issued the verbal decree instructing the civil servants to open up the procedure to everyone. In responding to these statements, the Minister said that the Minister has discretionary power to accept and grant anyone a permit based on humanitarian grounds. He also explained that St. Maarten has over 6000 persons still residing on the island illegally and government has to find a way to address the situation. He said his intention is to grant all persons who received a category 1 permit permanent residency and he also wants to extend the pending permits to another year since those permits will only be valid until November 3 2011. Minister Duncan also laid most of the blame for the BTA confusion on the media whom he said wrote several articles about the "verbal decree." He also made clear that he has no intention to reopen the BTA process.
Marlin said the BTA 2 that was reopened by the Minister's verbal decree created so much confusion that several persons were arrested and the head of that office has been suspended to date while the Minister is still enjoying the fruits and benefits of his office and he is not claiming responsibility for the "mess" he created.
Independent Member of Parliament Frans Richardson asked the Minister if the report submitted by the committee on August 16th is valid since the committee was established for a period of three months which expired on July 21 2011. Minister Duncan said that even though the committee's time had elapsed when they issued the report it was valid. Richardson also posed several questions on granting BTA permits now since the BTA process ended since 2009.
Minister Duncan in his explanations that he had to extend the BTA procedure because when he took office in October 2010 he met the BTA process which was not completed and to date the former Minister of Justice Magali Jacoba did not transfer the entire process to his Ministry.
