Philipsburg:--- The Territorial and Executive Council of St. Martin met with the Parliament of St. Maarten on Monday where the two governments discussed a number of issues that are affecting both sides.Representing the Collectivity's Executive Council were President Frantz Gumbs, Vice President of the Executive Council Louis Jeffry, executive council members Alain Richardson and Aline Hanson, while the members of the Territorial Council sat in the public tribune to witness the discussions.
President Gumbs gave the Members of Parliament a power point outline of how the French side of the island was governed prior to it obtaining its new status under article 74 of the French constitution and today's reality since attaining its new status in 2007. President Gumbs claimed that the French side has more autonomy in areas of road networking but they have no jurisdiction on health care and education. Work permits he said fall under the Collectivity's responsibility while residency permits remain under the State.
Members of Parliament from St. Maarten raised several questions pertaining to the cooperation that existed between the two sides, they asked that the two sides come together and to try and resolve the current problems that are affecting the local population on both sides of the island.
One of the points of concern raised by Member of Parliament Petrus Leroy de Weever is the fact that there are a number of persons from the French side of the island who worked on the Dutch side and paid into the pension fund but they are denied their pensions simply because they reside on the French side of the island. De Weever said the SZB wants everyone who applied for their pension to provide a valid residency permit for the Dutch side before they are able to qualify for their pensions. He said there are persons who worked for over 30 years at government owned companies and they contributed to the pension fund but now they are being denied their pension because they are not able to provide the residency permit. He called on the French side and those responsible on the Dutch side to begin discussions and to end the abuse that is currently against pensioners or the elderly. While the Member of Parliament has raised the issue of pensions and SZB, it must be noted that the Members of Parliament are the ones to make the necessary legislations that would resolve the issue.
Member of Parliament Lloyd Richardson said that these discussions should have taken place before St. Maarten achieved its separate status because the other members of the former Netherlands Antilles constellation went with monies that did not belong to them.Member of Parliament Louis Laviest also raised a number of issues that are also affecting persons who worked on the Dutch side and are collecting pension on that side of the island. Laveist said those persons are also denied their benefits on the French side. Laveist said that as Members of Parliament he is not a toy soldier and as such he is not prepared to just sit and talk with his counterparts but he wants to see some concrete solutions sought. Laveist said he does not think that the officials should continue to give lip service and their aim should not be to commit atrocity to the most vulnerable. Laveist was referring to the pension denial against persons who worked on the Dutch side. Laveist said the present situation can be considered as high day robbery.
The Members of Parliament said they are of the opinion that the 1648 treaty is not being respected especially when it comes to free movement of people and goods. They said the issue of the driver's license is one area that needs urgent attention.
Another issue raised by the Members of Parliament is the St. Peters road which can help to eliminate the traffic situation on both sides of the island, while youth delinquency and education were the two issues that received the highest priority from the Members of Parliament. Independent Member of Parliament Frans Richardson raised the issue on the amount of births on both sides of the island and the fact that there is nothing in place for these young people. Richardson said he would like to know exactly how many youngsters are on both sides of the island and how many jobs are available to them.
He suggested that the two sides work closer especially in the form of committee meetings.
