Dear Editor,
Again Country St. Maarten is in a state of another impasse of not been able to approve the balance budget with a surplus.
The balance budget includes the paying off of the huge debts of about over one hundred and fifty million guilders to SZV and APS, accrued by the former governments who never saw it fit to turn over the collected premiums from civil servants and workers in the private sectors to the rightful institutions.
Contrary, they saddled the budgets with all sorts of pork and perks to realise their pet projects, conveniently ignoring paying off the accrued debts to the various institutions and creditors.
This balance budget with a surplus also allows the completion of the Administration Building on Pond Island, rather than let it stand idle there as some piece of art work in a museum collecting cobweb, mildew and what have you.
We must commend the Minister of Finance and his team for being able to come up, in record time, with this budget with a surplus knowingly that this certainly was and is a painstaking effort and exercise on his part to have accomplished this awesome task.
The public perception on the government’s performance is viewed in a very positive light where it concerns transparency and accountability and delivering on their promises made to the people.
This is a far cry from the past, usual trademark of shrouded secrecy and back-door dealing for self-enrichment benefits.
Instead of the opposition members in Parliament offering their valuable contribution in supporting this budget with a surplus, they choose first to boycott the budget meeting placing Country St. Maarten in this unfortunate situation or impasse of not approving the budget in the interest of the people of Country St. Maarten.
As a way forward the leader of the UPP offers his proposal to government in order to break the unfortunate impasse or deadlock in Parliament but on his terms, time and trend.
History has revealed, and reminded us all that it is safe to say, in order to have a stable government that works for all the people in Country St. Maarten, is a government without Theo Heyliger.
One cannot feel comfortable when one lets the fox into the hen house because the fox simply says that he is fasting.
Theo’s trash theory:
a) Governing and opposition parties must rid themselves of their supportive independent members in Parliament, thus throwing Leona Romeo Marlin, Connie de Weever, Maurice Lake and Silvio Matser under the bus.
b) UPP = Theo Heyliger, gets the portfolios of the money-making government institutions Harbour, Airport, GEBE N.V. and Public Works Dept., while caring less about portfolios such as education, labour and social affairs.
c) He will then postpone his once-upon-a-time, urgently-needed-and-requested election, which will now take place in 2018. So, suddenly there is no more need for an early election because Theo Heyliger would be sitting then in government.
Lloyd’s gentle gesture – Dr. Lloyd Richardson is championing a national government with all Parliamentarians being part of the government.
Contrary to the broad-base government Theo Heyliger is proposing excluding all independent Parliamentarians who are actually non-UPP aligned members, and whom he wants to throw under the bus.
Conclusion – what is then really in the making UPP…a forging of a formidable or a false formation?
Edwin James
