Philipsburg:--- The Council of Ministers, namely the Minister of Education, Youth, and Sports Silveria Jacobs and the Minister of Finance Roland Tuitt may soon have to take legal actions in the United States against Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson and his estranged wife Evelyn Lozada if they fail to abide by the contract they have with the government of St. Maarten. Johnson and Lozada signed a contract with the government of St. Maarten and obtained approximately $90,000 for their wedding which was held on St. Maarten on July 4th, 2012. The official and legal ceremony was conducted on the Dutch side of the island while the wedding and reception was held at the Le Chateau des Palmiers in Low Lands.
The government of St. Maarten entered into the contract with the foreign couple in which they agreed to have their wedding aired on VH1 in the USA. If the wedding was aired as agreed upon then St. Maarten would have received more publicity that would further boost the island's tourism economy. However, Johnson and Lozada are now going through divorce procedures after the couple had a domestic dispute over the weekend. Johnson was arrested and is currently out on bail for head butting his wife Evelyn. Based on online media sources, it is understood that due to current developments VH1 will no longer air the wedding ceremony since the couple is now battling in a divorce procedure just 41 days after they tied the knot.
SMN News learnt that two Members of Parliament, one of which is supporting the current coalition government practically forced the current coalition government to make the monies available to Johnson and Lozada since they were busy negotiating with the couple prior to the fall of the UP/DP government. SMN News also learnt via our sources that the Prime Minister of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot Williams objected to the investment but her concerns were not taken into consideration and the Council of Ministers went ahead with the investment which they placed under "strategic advertising" for the island.
Reliable sources within the government apparatus said that the two MPs were supposedly getting a kick back from the monies government invested in the wedding of NFL player Chad Johnson. The source said one particular MP has connections in the United States and that Member of Parliament made commitments with the couple and other political heads in the US.
When SMN News reporter asked members of the Council of Ministers on Wednesday during the Council of Ministers' press briefing if government intends to retrieve the tax-payers monies they invested in the wedding if the contract is not upheld, Minister of Education Silveria Jacobs at first deferred the question to the Minister of Finance but then she later said that the media was asked not to publish previously mentioned information on the couple's wedding locally because the series is scheduled to air in September 2012.
Prime Minister Sarah Wescott Williams said that each member of the Council of Ministers have taken note of several news items regarding the newly wedded couple. Wescot Williams further explained that the Council of Ministers have not yet discussed the situation and what it could mean for the island's participation. Finance Minister Roland Tuitt confirmed that St. Maarten invested approximately $90,000.00 in the wedding. However, he explained that the contributions St. Maarten made to the wedding is like investing in any other business. "When someone is investing in business it's a risk they are taking and if something happens then they will have to deal with the consequences. Naturally, we have a contract with Johnson and Lozada and that contract has some clauses inside of it and St. Maarten will use those clauses if necessary." Tuitt also confirmed that if the series is not aired that St. Maarten will go ahead and retrieve the monies they invested in Johnson's wedding.
