Now that incumbent Prime Minister William Marlin has been given the task of forming a Government (see related story) it should not be long before the incoming UP/NA coalition nominates the next cabinet. Hopefully, the screening of candidate members will also be
completed quickly so that a new Council of Ministers can be installed soon after the Parliament elected a week ago takes office at the end of the month.
Although the two parties with five seats each have already agreed on a division of portfolios, making a joint governing programme won’t necessarily be a walk in the park. After all, the UP in opposition has been quite critical of various decisions and actions by the outgoing NA-led cabinet.
Moreover, NA leader Marlin declared during the joint press conference last Thursday that the fact that a certain Ministry now goes to UP does not mean all existing policies and projects will automatically be discarded. He did not mention any specifics, but the construction of a new hospital is an obvious example.
The former UP-led Government had different ideas about that than current DP Minister Emil Lee. In fact he strongly condemned those plans, calling them too expensive and vague, lacking transparency, substantiation and any kind of public bidding.
To add to the mix, the company involved at the time has announced legal steps over the choice of another group to carry out the project. UP is to deliver the next Public Health Minister, so it will be interesting to see what, if anything, changes in this respect.
Considering, among other things, the price difference between the two offers, solid arguments would be needed to justify abandoning the already-started process to realise the future St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC), should that even still be possible. When it comes to this topic, most people want to finally see results, not more bickering.
