Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILPSBURG:---- During the continuation meeting on Thursday regarding the contract between Checkmate Security and Government owned company St. Maarten Harbor Group of Companies (SMHGC) Members of Parliament were told that there is only one contract between the government owned company and Checkmate Security, and that Members of Parliament cannot obtain a copy but could only peruse the five page document. A half hour adjournment was given to Parliament so that the Members of Parliament could peruse the document.When the meeting reconvened Member of Parliament William Marlin reminded the chair of parliament of the role of parliament and what the role of the government is. Marlin said while government cannot call management of government owned companies to parliament they do have the right to call Ministers to parliament and demand answers.Marlin said he is flabbergasted with the statements made to parliament. He said that after perusing the document he realize a number of things, one of those things is that based on the contract they were given they noticed that the contract was signed on October 21st 2011. In that contract it mentioned that the SMHGC has been doing business for many years (2005) and that the contract have been renewed mutually. However, in 2011 the company and the SMHGC decided to sign an official contract which was done retroactively to January 2011 even though the contract was signed in October 2011. When the contract was signed it stated that during that year the company was paid $6.55 per man hour for that year. The contract further states that from January 2012 the SMHGC will pay Checkmate Security $6.65 per man hour, then from 2013 another increase was given from $6.55 to $6.75 per man hour with no further increase for the duration of the contract which expires in December 2015. However, there is a hand written note on the contract that states that the man hour fees have been increased from $6.75 to $10.30 for every man hour. However, that handwritten note on the contract does not have any initials to say that the contract was legally amended.The same contract states that if an amendment is made then it must be done in an addendum or amendment that has to be attached to the current contract. Marlin asked the Minister to state on the record if there is only one contract and also if he agrees with what is in the contract, especially when it comes to the handwritten note that is on the contract. Marlin said based on the articles of the contract the amendment and the increase is illegal since it is not in conformity with the articles of the contract. Marlin said he wants to know if government agrees with the current contract and if they do not. what does the Minister or government intend to do. MP Marlin highlighted article 2.8, article 9, and article 4.2 in the contract between Checkmate Security and the SMHGC which was signed in 2011.MP Christopher Emmanuel said that the contract they saw does not look right and he intend to look to see what other measures can be taken to reveal what exactly transpired between Checkmate Security and the SMHGC.MP Frans Richardson said that everyone especially Emil Lee wanted to tie him in with Checkmate Security and the SMHGC. He said that it is shame to see a local businessman being dragged through the mud because he is trying to do business on St. Maarten. MP Richardson said that he is proud that locals are now being paid a livable wage.MP Cornelius de Weever asked if there is an addendum to the contract that was given to parliament. He said that he was instrumental in getting at least one security company to hire locals and it is pleasing to him to see another security company has fallen in line. MP Silvio Matser commended the local businessman who bought the company and has since hired a number of locals that know almost everyone that goes to the SMHGC. Master made clear that he will not support anyone that are hell bent on destroying locals or local employees.In the second round when Minister Claret Connor was given the floor to provide the answers to parliament, he apologized to MP William Marlin for the handwritten changes that he said was made by him. MP Marlin then immediately called for a point of order and informed Parliament that while he would accept the Minister's apology, the Minister should apologize to Parliament for giving them a document he altered especially a document that he is not a signatory to. MP Marlin said that alone is a breach of integrity. He said that an apology is not the only thing warranted but instead the Minister has to explain to parliament why he wrote or make changes to the document that parliament has to debate on.Minister Connor then stated that both him and his staff apologized for not wiping out the handwritten changes on the contract, he said that was done when he was perusing the document and calculating what is paid to the security company per man hour. The Minister then proceeded in reading out a prepared statement on how contracts and government owned companies are handled based on the civil code.The Minister then informed Parliament that he cannot put the safety of the country at risk and therefore he will answer the questions in writing within two weeks.His response did not bode well with MP William Marlin who said that he is totally at loss with what the Minister told Parliament. Marlin said that the Minister said there is no second contract, he said that he is the one that made the handwritten changes on the contract. He said that he now thinks that Parliament was misinformed and he is sick, tired and fed up with the approach of this government.MP Emmanuel said he is also fed up but it turned out that parliament was given a fraudulent document. Emmanuel then asked the Minister to provide the document he was reading in order to make the changes he made on the document. He said the Minister committed fraud and a severe breach of integrity.MP Emmanuel made clear he is not questioning any local instead he is questioning the workings of a Government owned Company. MP Emmanuel said that suddenly some MPs are trying to make this some fromlocal" issue but asked who stopped Ms. Sorton to open a funeral home on St. Maarten?. He asked who got rid of Ms. Christina Labega from the Harbor and who brought in a Managing Director" at the Harbor from Trinidad. MP Emmanuel said that even Sunset theaters was owned by a local. All of it he said that was done by some locals that are sitting in Parliament who conveniently forget what was done in the past. MP Emmanuel said that he do not believe the Minister and furthermore, he wants to know if it's the Minister is the only one that is interested in the security of the country. He said the Minister is trying to hide things through the civil code, while they are the ones that destroyed the livelihood of the locals when they issued a number of taxi permits.MP Emmanuel who was visibly peeved with what happened on Thursday in Parliament made clear that based on what transpired warranted an investigation since it is clear that parliament was given a fraudulent document.MP Franklin Meyers clarified that while he is owner of a funeral home he is not the one that stopped Ms. Sorton from obtaining a permit for a funeral home. He said that was done by the Lt. Governor. He further accepted responsibility for being part of the Executive Council when Christina Labega was dismissed and Romel Charles was brought in at the SMHGC.Meyers got heated when he informed Parliament that the former SPA government sold 30% of the SMHGC to the Dutch but it was the St. Maarten Government who bought back the shares from the Dutch and made the company 100% government owned. MP Franklin Meyers highlighted several projects that are being conducted on the island but they are not being questioned. MP Franklin Meyers also admitted that he issued 83 taxi permits while being a Minister. He also shed light as to how much is paid to security companies guarding the landfill and other places compared to the SMHGC.
