PHILIPSBURG: --- 25 years and 4 months after the arrest of St. Maarten’s pioneer the late Dr. Claude Wathey who was arrested on October 29th, 1993 authorities arrested his grandson leader of the United Democrats Theodore Heyliger.
Back in 1993 the Attorney General's office subsequently filed charges of fraud, purgery and conspiracy to commit a crime against Dr. Claude Wathey, Airport Managing Director Frank Arnell, former St. Martin Lt. Gov. Ralph Richardson and former Airport Board Chairman Al Wathey. Dr. Claude Wathey was the Leader of the St. Martin Democratic Party.
The arrest of late Dr. Claude Wathey sparked a protest at the Government Administration Building and they also protested on the tarmac of the Airport as the Dutch investigators took him to Curacao to conduct their investigations.
History has repeated itself on Tuesday, February 19th, 2019 when a team of Dutch investigators swarmed the home of his grandson Theodore Heyliger the leader of the United Democrats. Heyliger is also suspect in a corruption investigation, including the bribing of former MP Romaine LaVille.
Heyliger’s arrest did not come as a surprise to him or the St. Maarten community as they all know that the investigators were on to Heyliger when they began several investigations relating to corruption and bribery. Heyliger’s and his family including party supporters participated in a march on August 29, 2018, when Prosecutor’s Office requested permission from the Appeals Court to prosecute the UD Leader.
However, on Tuesday when Heyliger was officially arrested everyone stayed calm. Several persons within the community said that justice has to take its course especially since several politicians were arrested and there was no march or protest against the justice system.
At the moment the Airport renovation project post-Irma is a hot topic for politicians at this moment. Dr. Claude Wathey and others were arrested in suspected corruption of project at PJIAE while in recent months PJIAE is top discussion within the political arena.
