Philipsburg:--- Deputy Prime Minister Theodore Heyliger chose to let off some steam during an off the air press conference on Wednesday against what he called constant rumors against his person or that of the United Peoples Party. Heyliger told reporters that he will not be taking up his seat in Parliament right now but he did not rule out that possibility for the new Parliamentary year which begins in September. "It is not my intention to take up the parliamentary seat as yet; I have been in office since 1995 both in the legislative and executive branches. I believe that after 17 years in government I deserve some time off. One of the reasons I chose to stay out of public office is to enjoy seeing the rumors being created on others rather than my person." Heyliger said most of the rumors regarding him are fabricated and he as well as his colleagues would like to see the rumors proven. Heyliger said when that is done then he will stand guilty as charged. Heyliger further explained that he is taken back by the fact that many things he started could not be finalized during his tenure while he intends to make known to the population the strife of the people of St. Maarten while out of office. He said while one might say he should give the new government an opportunity, in his view the new and incoming government is filled with veteran politicians, therefore he expects to see a lot from the incoming government. The Deputy Prime Minister said that the population should also demand a lot from the National Alliance, Democratic Party, and Independent Members government because it will not be a learning process for them. They will have experienced Ministers while the Members of Parliament supporting the government are experienced politicians.Heyliger said that he wants to make clear that the outgoing Ministers deserve the financial packages that are given to them. He said former Ministers and commissioners were paid out as well and it is not the Council of Ministers who took the decision to have these outgoing Ministers remain with their huge financial packages. Heyliger said that decision was taken in Parliament.
The UP leader and outgoing Deputy Prime Minister said that he will be on the sidelines watching to see what the new government will do for the people of St. Maarten. Heyliger further explained that for once he would be able to read the news without his name being mentioned in constant rumors on the island. The outgoing Minister of VROMI said that he laid the foundation for several road projects and social homes to which the contracts and financing have been set aside. Therefore, the new government can hit the ground running. He said the ground work is already laid out and it's only a matter of execution for the various projects he started.
When asked by SMN News to explain if it is the Ministries that have to work on legislations and take it to Parliament for ratification or if it's the Parliamentarians that have to work on the legislations and laws. Heyliger said that Parliamentarians have to take an initiative and work on legislations and not wait on the Ministries to take laws to them. He said one of the things he intends to do while out of public office is to make sure his faction works on legislations and presents them to Parliament. Furthermore, the UP leader said that he believes that Parliament should take some of the monies they have for traveling and put it towards the preparation of laws. When Minister Heyliger was asked to name the two companies that were contracted by the Carnival Development Foundation for marketing and events planning, Heyliger said that he could not say which contractors were contracted by SCDF instead he is willing to speak about the rumors regarding the government owned companies.
Contracts Signed for Causeway.
Heyliger said the contracts and financing are already in place for the causeway however, it will be up to the new government to continue with the execution. "All permits for the causeway have been signed, the contracts and financing are in place and the construction is scheduled to start. It will be up to the incoming government to stop what has been signed off on already." Heyliger also confirmed that he signed off on a number of projects while his colleagues signed off on several licenses. He said that there are people who requested taxi and bus licenses some 12 years ago and they were not granted. Heyliger further explained that he did not break the law when his government signed off on the projects and licenses because it is the norm. "The last outgoing government signed off on 100 taxi and bus licenses but the former Lt. Governor only approved 30 to 40 of them. What I did and what my government did is not against the law and there was dialogue with the taxi associations regarding the new licenses that were issued," Heyliger said.
