PHILIPSBURG--The relationship between the supervisory board of utilities company GEBE and (past and present) Government is enough for reason for the board “to make positions available” to Government, said Democratic Party (DP) leader, Parliament Chairwoman Sarah Wescot-Williams on Thursday.
“I think it would be a right thing to do” for the board to make their positons available, she said. “I'm not telling them to go home. I am telling them to make their positions available,” she said.
The “lack of tranquillity” at the company is harmful and not productive, she said at a party press conference held in Parliament House.
The Coalition of Eight is “concerned” about the situation at the utilities company GEBE. “It has my full concern,” she said.
Wescot-Williams said some politicians, referring to United People’s (UP) party leader Member of Parliament (MP) Theo Heyliger, have taken the issue at GEBE to create panic with “loose and ungrounded statements” about Government taking money from the company.
GEBE employees are concerned about claims about Government wanting a large sum of money from the company, but Prime Minister William Marlin explained the situation to them on Wednesday, Wescot-Williams said.
On the topic of health, the DP leader commended the approach of Public Health Minister Emil Lee on the development of a new hospital for the country. Healthcare and the hospital continue to be a priority for the Democratic Party (DP), she said.
Healthcare, as well as a the plan for a fast ferry linking St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius, were discussed with Dutch Minister for Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk during his working visit earlier this week. Finding a way to revive interest in the Kingdom Games was also discussed in the meeting.
Wescot-Williams said she will call for a debate on the 2014 annual accounts of government-owned companies in the Permanent Committee for Finance. “This is where Parliament comes into the picture,” she said. Such a debate will allow people to follow developments with the companies, she said.
On the handling of the Draft 2016 Budget, starting on Monday, Wescot-Williams said she is working on a structure that will allow every fraction time to debate the technical aspects of the budget.
She is focused on the budget handling to “not be a drawn out affair.” The lengthy discussion has “turned off the people in the past.”
Government is working “very hard” to provide translation of the draft budget to Parliament. Not all of the budget may be translated by Monday, “but a start has been made,” Wescot-Williams said.
Meanwhile, contact among the Parliaments of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten is ongoing on a proposal for the dispute regulation for the kingdom. A follow-up on the proposed regulation will be worked for the Parliaments to present “something tangible” for the next Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultation IPKO in June. The representatives of the three Parliaments are slated to meet to work out their proposal.
Wescot-Williams again signalled her intention to “pick up” the draft timeshare laws submitted by DP in the last parliamentary term. Tourism and Economic Affairs Minister Irania Arrindell has committed to working on the draft to move it further, unlike the stalling that occurred with former Minister Claret Connor, she said.
St. Maarten Timeshare Association has given its view on the law, but the former government did not. Arrindell is looking into it answering the Council of Advice’s concerns about the legislation, Wescot-Williams said.
The DP leader said she will also talk to UP about whether or not it wants to pick up its draft law presented in the last parliamentary term on amending timeshare fees.
