President Daniel Gibbs speaking at a press conference about the protocols.
MARIGOT--President Daniel Gibbs has criticised the French State for its inconsistency regarding promises for St. Martin that emerged after two protocols were signed with the State in 2017 for reconstruction of St. Martin. He described the about-faces as “changing the rules of the game.”
His comments came ahead of a soon-to-be-signed amendment to those protocols between Collectivité and State. Alerting the media and by extension the population to his concerns on the matter, he said the amendment would be debated at a Territorial Council meeting on December 14.
“These two protocols signed in November 2017 provided budget support for the functioning of the Collectivité, taking into account the net loss of our tax revenues following [Hurricane – Ed.] Irma, a loss that has, unfortunately, materialised,” Gibbs explained.
“According to the first protocol, signed here on November 6, 2017, between the [French – Ed.] Prime Minister [Édouard Philippe] and myself, this budgetary support for the functioning of our institution provided 12.5 million euros to complete the 2017 financial year and 50 million euros per year was planned for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020, which can be adjusted at the end of each year, depending on revenue.
“But as early as 2018, the State unilaterally changed the rules of the game during the year: only 25 million euros was paid to the local authority despite us including 50 million euros from our provisional budget in the operating section. The pretext used by the current Préfet of Guadeloupe [Philippe Gustin] was as follows: ‘You have about 20 million euros of cash at your disposal; therefore, you no longer need to pay the balance of this allocation.’
“Indeed, this 20 million euros was already earmarked for investment projects but, as we had then come out of the emergency period at the end of 2018, we had to scrupulously respect the rules of public procurement … which considerably slowed down the reconstruction process and therefore the expenditure. In other words, we are doubly punished.
“[French] President [Emmanuel] Macron encouraged us on September 12, 2017, to ‘shake up the procedures.’ When we faithfully comply with procedures that are at the very least inadequate, we are hindered. It seems the Préfet of Guadeloupe flips a coin … tails the State wins, heads the Collectivité wins.
“We therefore suffered a budgetary imbalance of 25 million euros in 2018 and yet we had played the game – presentation of a savings plan on October 10, 2018, validation of the austerity measures imposed on the Caisse Territorial des Oeuvres Scolaires (CTOS).
“We therefore thought that the State would also play the game. We have therefore, in accordance with the terms of the protocol, integrated 50 million euros in operations for our 2019 budget.
“We were (a little) reassured, insofar as these budgetary appropriations were indeed included in the State budget. Moreover, Secretary of State Olivier Dussopt himself pointed this out to the Senate, the transcript of which is available online: ‘The government has set up a specific fund of 50 million euros for St. Martin, a fund which is also renewed as part of this Finance Bill.’
“Indeed, in November 2018, 50 million euros of payment appropriations were included in the documents annexed to the Finance Bill. We could legitimately be reassured by this official technical document, and yet the year 2019 has passed … zero payments in the first quarter of 2019, zero payments in the second quarter 2019, zero payments in the third quarter 2019.
“At most, we were told that this exceptional operating allocation would be ‘transformed’ into an investment allocation for 2019 and that an amendment to the protocol would set these ‘new rules of the game.’ …
“However, on November 29, 2019, a letter from the Préfecture of St. Barthélemy and St. Martin informed me that an exceptional allocation would be paid in 2019 as an investment. Its amount was set at 16.1 million euros, barely a third of the 50 million euros provided for in the Finance Act. Last year, we got half of it: 25 million euros out of 50.
“To receive this amputated allocation, we will have to have signed the amendment ‘proposed’ to us, and which adds new obligations, new constraints and new ratios to be respected. And, above all, we must have signed it before Saturday, December 14. That is why I must urgently summon, in view of the incompressible deadlines set by the Organic Law of 2007, the elected representatives of the Territorial Council.”
The Council meeting on December 14 will debate not only the amendment, but also the programming of the multi-year investment plan PPI for the years 2019 to 2023.
“Until now, our team – in this ultra-degraded context – has not had the means to prove itself and implement as we wanted our structuring projects. So, 2020 must be a year devoted to economic development. I will fight to ensure that next year the State’s promises are kept and that we can benefit, as provided for in the protocol, from an allocation at an appropriate level,” Gibbs concluded.
