PHILIPSBURG:--- MP Rolando Brison made Parliamentary history again on Tuesday when his proposal to conduct a Parliamentary into Mullet Bay was approved by Parliament by a unanimous vote. All members of Parliament present voted FOR!
It was the first time the Parliament for St. Maarten voted to initiate a Parliamentary inquiry into any subject. As he has been stressing for a few months already, MP Brison re-iterated that the people of St. Maarten has waited nearly a quarter of a century to see any kind of action on Mullet Bay. The time to act is NOW. "24 Years is long enough. We need answers and we need them NOW. Then we can see how we will proceed on Mullet Bay," MP Brison said.
MP Christopher Emmanuel said in voting for the inquiry: history will show that a few members of Parliament would have done something good for St. Maarten today.
The only MP not casting a vote for or against is MP Frans Richardson of the USP faction who was in Parliament but was not present for the vote.
"I want to give a special thanks to all of you for very humbling outpouring of support that I have received for the Mullet Bay Legislation. Thanks to all and my work will continue unabated for the people of St. Maarten," MP Brison said.
The document outlines four research objectives:
1. Legislative shortcomings allowing for this problem to exist, and the effects of jurisprudence that may have resulted through litigation, particularly in regard to the ownership of conflict zones such as the beach and the pond, and how these short comings should be addressed (New legislation, amended legislation, budgetary amendments, instructions to government by means of an amendment in the governing program).
2. What actions government can and should take to ensure the property is used in the best interest of the people of the country, being proactive ahead of potential irrevocable actions, such as auctions and/or settlements by the Central Bank, which may or may not be in the best interest of St. Maarten.
3. Finding a fully sustainable, environmentally friendly solution to the development of Mullet Bay, and continued protection of its natural resources – zoning, expropriation, assigning monument status.
4. The lack of economic activity for the area over 24 years and what this has cost the country, and what economic benefits could be derived from the country if it were developed in a sustainable manner.
The proposal calls for the inquiry to be executed in four phases: The preliminary information gathering Phase, Verification and Hearing Phase – the phase where the commission will be able to verify information, hear witnesses and seek advice from external entities for possible solutions, the Reporting Phase – The information is placed by the commission into a report and Conclusions and Actions - the conclusions from the report are delivered and debated by parliament, actions agreed, and the commission continues to follow up to ensure action is taken after the report is debated by Parliament.