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PHILIPSBURG--Democratic Party ((DP)) leader Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams has issued a call to the Marcel Gumbs' Cabinet "to show leadership by providing government's stance" on the halting of renovation work on the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS) building in St. Maarten.
Work was stopped on the building by contractor Taliesin Construction NV after the bank issued a "notice of termination" as of today, April 17, of the company's contract due to "signals" of possible integrity issues, according to the company attorney Roland Duncan. A "mechanic's lien" was placed on the building. If the company is not paid its request of NAf 3.7 million by the termination of the agreement the matter will move to court, Duncan said earlier this week.
The CBCS has not issued any formal statement on the claims made by Taliesin nor about its position on the mechanic's lien and monetary claim of the construction company.
"Government cannot hide behind the hierarchy or confidentiality of institutions such as the Central Bank and allow the public debate to go wild, at the detriment of again another institution, on which the sustainability of our country relies," Wescot-Williams said in a press statement. "In fact, what we see when these type pf occurrences are left up to their own vices, confidentiality is out of the window and hierarchy is trampled.
"Believe it or not, I too, as a member of Parliament and former prime minister, am only now hearing of the intricacies behind the renovation of the Philipsburg building of the Central Bank. Information I obtained as prime minister upon inquiring, assured me that the reason for the delay in getting this project off the ground had to do with the stringent due diligence applied to the process," she said on Thursday.
The MP said some people in the community may consider it "politically incorrect" of her "to question the saga," but "as a citizen of this country I publicly ask the Government of St. Maarten to 'nip it in the bud' and show leadership by providing government's stance in this matter.
"Do not allow the people of this country to 'go at each other's throats' when there must be a better, I hope, and truer explanation of what is happening. We might not like what it is, but at least give us the truth to debate," Wescot-Williams said.
