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Only 6 Of 22 Motions Since 2012 Yielded Results: Motions Carry The Day – But Only In Parliament

St. Maarten – The motions Members of Parliament submit during the annual budget debate seldom yield results. This newspaper examined 28 motions a host of parliamentarians tabled since 2012. With 22 of them successive government did absolutely nothing. Six of them yielded (some) results.

When governments fail to execute motions, parliament never retaliates. In the Netherlands, a cabinet that refuses or neglects to execute a motion that is carried by a majority in parliament, could lead to a cabinet crisis Read more

Connor Moves To Vromi – New Candidates Pending : Cabinet Reshuffle After The Summer

Minister Claret Connor’s days as the Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs are almost over. Photo contributed

St. Maarten – Minister Claret Connor will be removed from his position at the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication after the summer and stay in the cabinet as the Minister of Public Housing, Urban Planning, Environment and Infrastructure Read more

Sarah concerned about Connor’s move from Tourism Ministry

PHILIPSBURG--A pending shuffling of portfolios in the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet, particularly the move of current Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Minister Claret Connor to the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI and the appointment of a new minister in Connor's place, has drawn concern from Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams.

She has termed the pending shuffle as "cabinet shake-up." She based her position on comments made by United People's (UP) party faction leader MP Franklin Meyers recently in a television interview.

Conner's post is tipped to be taken by a minister candidate proposed by coalition member independent MP Leona Marlin-Romeo Read more

Editorial - Reserve judgement

The UP-led coalition submitted its governing programme “Ready to Work for You” on Thursday. Better late than never, considering that it comes almost seven months after the Gumbs cabinet took office.

The question is also to what extent the policy intentions can be achieved in light of the current financial situation, with a looming instruction from the Kingdom Council of Ministers to settle the arrears totalling 189 million guilders to Social and Health Insurance SZV and the general pension fund APS Read more

Shake up in current cabinet – Where does this leave Coalition partner MP Frans Richardson?

>PHILIPSBURG:--- There seems to be an imminent shake up in the current Gumbs cabinet. SMN News wrote various articles mentioning that Minister Claret Connor will be removed from his post as Minister of TEATT and be placed at the Ministry of VROMI. On Wednesday evening the UPP faction leader and deputy leader Franklin Meyers announced that Minister Claret Connor will be moving to the Ministry of VROMI but the UPP deputy leader did not say how soon this will take place Read more

Sarah: Why are changes to the law taking so long?

PHILIPSBURG--How long does it take to make amendments requested by Members of Parliament (MPs) to the draft national ordinance to establish an Integrity Chamber for the country, Democratic Party (DP) leader MP Sarah Wescot-Williams questioned on Wednesday.

Her enquiry follows a statement from Justice Minister Dennis Richardson on Tuesday about the amendments Read more

Jacobs chalks up another win for Chalk Dust at Ram contest

MARIGOT--Francis Jacobs continued his record-breaking run of wins at the fifteenth Annual Ram Beauty Contest in Colombier on Sunday with his prized ram Chalk Dust again winning the prestigious Boer category.

Jacobs, who had several winning entries at the show organised by I Love My Ram Association, has produced winners for seven consecutive years.

"I guess I'm just good at looking after my animals," he said modestly. "I put a lot of hours into it."

With more entries in the Boer class than usual, they were divided into three categories Read more

Lopsided flight

Dear Editor,

I have taken note on the press release by the Board of the UPP, pertaining to the indecisiveness of MP Wescot-Williams.

While my political position was made clear last October, this certainly does not stop me from pointing the lack of readiness with this present government with UPP as the majority.

Today, elections have come and gone, oaths taken and still no governing program detailing government's plan of action for the specific term Read more

Integrity Chamber back on agenda Kingdom Govt

~ VVD demands AMvRB measure for St. Maarten ~

THE HAGUE--The establishing of the St. Maarten Integrity Chamber is back on the agenda of the Kingdom Council of Ministers. The next meeting is on July 10 and a General Measure of the Kingdom Government ("Algemene Maatregel van Rijksbestuur" AMvRB) is a real option.

Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk did not state specifically during a debate in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Thursday that a decision would be taken regarding St Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The board of the United People’s (UP) party has taken note of recent comments made by Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams.

"We find it ironic that the former Prime Minister and present opposition MP is able to maintain such a high visibility by questioning so much about government while the same MP led government up until December 2014, less than seven months ago," remarked the UP Party Board on Thursday.

The UP Party Board added, "Now is not the time to play with the emotions of the populous especially when our people require us to band together to deal with the challenges the nation is facing Read more

Up Board Calls Out Mp Wescot-Williams On Past Indecisiveness In Three Cabinets Over Four Years

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The board of the United People's (UP) party has taken note of recent comments made by Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams.

"We find it ironic that the former Prime Minister and present opposition MP is able to maintain such a high visibility by questioning so much about government while the same MP led government up until December 2014, less than seven months ago," remarked the UP Party Board on Thursday.

The UP Party Board added, "Now is not the time to play with the emotions of the populous especially when our people require us to band together to deal with the challenges the nation is facing.

The MP was also given the opportunity to be in government when she joined the coalition, but backed out a few weeks later Read more

Sarah calls for urgent filling of open CFT post

PHILIPSBURG--“Government has really dropped the ball,” says Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams about the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet’s failure to find and appoint candidates to represent St Read more

>PHILIPSBURG: --- Member of Parliament from the Democratic Party faction Sarah Wescot Williams told members of the media that she is quite satisfied with the response she received from government regarding her proposals on what should be changed in the draft law to establish the integrity chamber Read more

>PHILIPSBURG: --- Member of Parliament from the Democratic Party faction Sarah Wescot Williams told members of the media that she is quite satisfied with the response she received from government regarding her proposals on what should be changed in the draft law to establish the integrity chamber Read more

Minister shares viewpoint, MPs to get GEBE answers Monday

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament’s plenary session on developments at utilities company GEBE, focusing on the ongoing dispute between the Supervisory Board and Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Managing Director Romelio Maduro about his position at the company, was adjourned to Monday afternoon, after Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Marcel Gumbs gave some perspective on Friday, but needed more documentation to answer questions posed by Members of Parliament (MPs).

The meeting was adjourned after Gumbs, as shareholder representative for the Government-owned company, gave a summarised overview of developments on the current dispute and questions were posed by National Alliance MPs William Marlin, Silveria Jacobs and Christophe Emmanuel Read more

Patrol to Eradicate Paedophilia urges MPs to make law changes

PHILIPSBURG--Change the laws to impose harsher punishment for paedophiles and institute a sex offenders registry were among the calls the group Patrol to Eradicate Paedophilia (PEP) made to the Petitions Committee of Parliament on Thursday.

PEP's request for laws to be changed now heads to the Permanent Committee for Justice. Committee Chairman Member of Parliament (MP) Johan Leonard said he would call the Justice Minister to the committee after Parliament's July recess.

PEP representative Peggy Ann Dros-Richardson urged MPs to have Government boost its assistance to the Mental Health Foundation, to help the foundation increase awareness about paedophilia and have the required treatment for the mental disorder Read more

An Integrity Committee is most definitely needed

Dear Editor,

Okay, I have read the document on the establishing of the Integrity Committee (IC) and I must say that I CANNOT DISAGREE MORE with my good friend MP Christophe Emmanuel. I do not think that the establishing of this Committee is "bad for business" unless it is the business of nepotism and corruption that have plagued us for the last 25 years.

I also believe that some of the comments made by many members of Parliament misrepresent what is actually in the document. I am not saying they are lying but they are taking a very extreme view of what powers the Committee actually have.

MP William Marlin in his comments stated that a simple relationship with a Minister or MP can disqualify you from a contract or job, which according to me is really stretching the meaning of the document Read more

Parliament committees to look into French/Dutch joint issues

Representatives of the French side Territorial Council with Members of Parliament in Parliament House on Tuesday.

PHILIPSBURG--A meeting between the French side Territorial Council and Members of Parliament (MPs) in Parliament House on Tuesday resulted in various topics discussed being sent to Parliament’s permanent committees for further deliberation and solution seeking.

Among the topics discussed was pensioners living on the French side, but who have contributed to the Dutch side’s General Pension Fund by working on the southern side of the island accessing their benefits Read more

Authorizing a minister to execute a law, should never be a means to circumvent Parliament.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- On June 4, I issued a statement that addressed several matters, including the following paragraph: "Medical coverage law: one would recall that during the budget debates, a motion was presented to authorize the Minister of Health to execute this law, which the Parliament had not even seen. Luckily, Parliament caught on in the nick of time. This important piece of legislation, offering coverage to presently uninsured groups and persons in our community, still has not reached parliament for debate Read more

Sarah calls Govt to return law amendment ‘soon as possible’

PHILIPSBURG--Government should “not take its time” in returning to Parliament with amendments to the draft National Ordinance to establish the Integrity Chamber for the country. Rather than wait for Parliament’s return after its July recess, Government should return with the amended law as soon as possible, says Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams.

She is “prepared” to handle the draft law in July even though it is the parliamentary recess Read more

style="text-align: justify;">PHILIPSBURG:--- The government of St. Maarten would do well to respond to Parliament's recommendations and amendments to the national Integrity Chamber Ordinance AS SOON AS POSSIBLE and not take its time, given the timeframe of one month that was mentioned by parliament.

If the whole matter is indeed that we want to establish our "own" integrity chamber, then we should proceed, and proceed with utmost haste.

I am concerned that this delay is going to cost our country dearly Read more

EU Funding Available to Construct Waste Management Plant at Bellevue Border --- Deadline to Obtain EU Funds has to be completed by December 2015.

style="text-align: center;">What will this do to the MOU signed with GB Energy and GEBE?

PHILIPSBURG:--- Members of the French Executive Council met with members of Members of Parliament on Tuesday to discuss the usage of European funding that are available to both sides of the island.
Both President Aline Hanson and Vice President Guillaume Arnell told the Members of Parliament that the two sides of the island have to take matters seriously and work efficiently in order for the island to obtain the funding to construct some main projects, one being a waste management plant in the vicinity of Bellevue border Read more

Sarah calls for high priority for performing arts centre

PHILIPSBURG--"Put politics aside" and get moving on the development and construction of a preforming arts centre for St. Maarten was the call from Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams to her fellow MPs on Monday morning.

The arts centre should be "put as a high priority" by government and the money needs to be found for the project, Wescot-Williams said in the notification section of the plenary session of Parliament dealing with the Integrity Chamber.

Her call stemmed from the packed arts and cultural schedule in the just concluded weekend Read more

Govt. back to drawing board with Integrity Chamber Law

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament has sent Government back to the drawing board with the controversial draft National Ordinance on the establishment of an Integrity Chamber for the country.

Parliament sending Government back to make changes was not unexpected, as the majority of MPs had voiced their discontent with the draft when it was tabled in the Central Committee of Parliament about two months ago.

The reworking of parts of the law means the deadline of June 30 for Parliament to handle the law as stated in a recent protocol with the Dutch Government will not be met Read more