PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament (MP) Claudius “Toontje” Buncamper, faction leader of the United St. Maarten Party (USP) in parliament, expressed his disappointment with the dearth of answers provided by the minister of TEATT during Wednesday’s Central Committee meeting of parliament, to his questions posed during the adjourned meeting of Monday, February 15th. The lack of response to the questions asked was justified by the minister and the airport’s management as “due to confidentiality”, which frustrated a number of Members of Parliament, including MP Buncamper.
Wednesday’s meeting did not yield the long-awaited information regarding the airport’s terminal reconstruction project and the operational projections for 2021. Instead, many of the questions posed remained unanswered or were answered in a wishy-washy manner. The meeting was subsequently adjourned until a later date when the minister and the airport management will return to parliament to provide the answers to the questions posed by the members of parliament.
MP Buncamper questions the role of the State of the Netherlands in regards to the management of the airport. On January 31 the Director for Kingdom Relations/Countries on behalf of the State of the Netherlands, State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations, sent a letter to the airport’s CEO, Brian Mingo, stating: “I write to you to express our intention to continue the cooperation between PJIAH, PJIAE, Schiphol and the State of the Netherlands.” The letter concluded: “I hereby call on all parties for a meeting to discuss the renewal of the cooperation agreement.” Copies of the letter were sent to PJIAH, Schiphol Nederland B.V., and the Council of Ministers. The letter with the subject “Cooperation Agreement relating to the reconstruction of PJIA on Sint Maarten” does not mention the date, time, and place of the meeting. It is not known if the meeting already took place or when it will. “The managing of the airport seems to be to a great extent in the hands of the Dutch,” stated MP Buncamper, and wants to know who the State Secretary is reporting to.
