Marigot:--- President of the Collectivity of St. Martin Alain Richardson announced on Tuesday that the Collectivity of St. Martin would need a minimum of 30 million Euros (fresh cash) to be able to pay for the operations of the COM for the year 2012. These monies he said has to be found because the salaries for the Collectivity's workers are not guaranteed. President Richardson also announced that an audit of the Collectivity's financing is currently underway, while one of the local banks has denied the Collectivity's request for a loan of 10 million Euros. President Richardson said he received the letter from the bank on Tuesday morning which is in the negative. Furthermore, President Richardson said that he already met with Prefet Phillipe Chopin on April 3, 2012 where he addressed the financial situation of the COM and this week he will be meeting with Prefet of Guadeloupe Amaury de Saint-Quentin to further discuss St. Martin's financial situation. President Richardson said that is the hard reality the people of St. Martin has to know, that the COM is more than broke and this is where the RRR priority lies. President Richardson said when he took office a week ago and he was confronted with the financial situation of the COM it was not a shock to him or those persons that were part of the Territorial Council from 2007 to 2012. However, he explained that the time for short term solutions is over and it's time for elected officials to find long term solutions which would address the financial situation of the COM. President Richardson said he does not wish to be a President that has to try and cut corners every week or month to seek funding for the payroll. "Short term solutions can no longer be applied and we need to find long term and durable solutions for the COM's predicaments."SMN News learnt that the Collectivity does not even have monies in the treasury to pay the salaries of the COM workers at the end of April. The vice presidents present during the press briefing told SMN News that the COM would need a minimum of 30 million to pay its monthly bills but that figure can double or triple when the audit is complete. They said that the Prefet already took certain decisions for the COM but the Prefet in Guadeloupe has to sanction those decisions later this week. Sources close to the COM said that the RRR team inherited debts upon debts when they took office a week ago. SMN News further learnt that the State of France conducted a study prior to the Territorial Election to determine St. Martin's financial status and that study showed that St. Martin would need 35 million Euros to survive this year.
One source said that while the President has to find monies to pay the civil servants he also will be faced with the bills from various contractors that conducted work for the COM shortly before the March Territorial Elections. "One such bill that has to be paid is the road work bill that was done throughout the French side shortly before the March 2012 Territorial Elections."
When asked by SMN News what sort of solutions the RRR government has in mind to address the financial predicament of the COM, President Richardson said the portfolios of the Vice Presidents were only now distributed and the budget of the COM will be discussed on April 26, 2012.
In the meantime, the portfolios for the Vice Presidents have been distributed. First Vice President Aline Hanson will be handling Pole Development Humane (Human Resources and Education, Sport and Culture.) She will be assisted by Territorial Councilors Josianne Carty, Alain Desormeaux, Catherine Questel, and Nadine Paines Jermin. Second Vice President Guillaume Arnel will be in charge of Pole Development Durable (Sustainable Development), he will be assisted by Rene Jean Duret, Louis Fleming, and Jean David Richardson. Third vice President Ramona Conner will be in charge of Social Affairs (Solidaire Famile), she will be assisted by Valerie Fonrose, Mr. Jose Vilier, and Anteroux Santos. While fourth President Wendell Cocks and President Richardson will be in charge of Pole Development Economic and Finance (Economic Development and Finance) they will be assisted by Jan Vanterpool.
The President said a study is currently taking place and when that study is complete the recommendations will be added. He clearly explained that his team has work ahead of them and they are not afraid of the work.