SXMElections.com

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The leader of the Democratic Party, MP the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams Wednesday expressed concern with what she believes is the none transparent manner in which the screening process conducted by the Governor of St. Maarten drs. Eugene B. Holiday has been closed off.

MP Wescot-Williams sent a letter to the Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Marcel Gumbs in which a number of questions on the process was posed seeking clarification.

MP Wescot Williams is of the opinion that the government  of St. Maarten quietly closed off the chapter of the screening of the ministers.

She also stated that "with the statement attributed to Minister Plasterk regarding the screening, the government has in my opinion no choice but to inform and explain Parliament and the general public how this process was conducted and by whom".

"The national decree in force until now and the questionnaire is a public document". "Any changes or amendments should also be made public". "Even more so, considering that Parliament was unanimous in its rejection of the Kingdom measure, instructing the Governor how to execute this autonomous competency of the country".

She concluded by noting that "for clarity sake, this request has nothing to do with  persons and their information, but with the process".
 
The letter sent to the Prime Minister from the DP leader can be read in full below.

The Democratic Party of St. Maarten

Proudly Serving Since 1954

The Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs,

The Honorable Marcel F. Gumbs,

Administration Building

Philipsburg

St. Maarten

January 13, 2015

Honorable Prime Minister Gumbs,

Recently the Minister for Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands, Mr. R. Plasterk was quoted as saying that candidate-ministers, installed on St. Maarten on December 19th, 2014, were …“subjected with the assistance of employees of the Dutch secret service to an extra-severe screening.”

Considering the motion of Parliament of October 22, 2014, rejecting the measure of instruction to the Governor regarding the very same screening, can you inform Parliament:

What exactly was the role of the Dutch secret service in the screening of the ministers of St. Maarten?Was that involvement only for this batch of ministers or will the Dutch secret service henceforth be involved in the screening of St. Maarten ministers?How is the role of the Dutch Secret service formalized nationally?Finally, are the new screening regulations and procedures that apparently include a rolethe Dutch secret service, laid down in a national decree or other national regulation and if so, has such been publicized or has the national decree (LB) of May 22, 2013, no. 0442 been amended?

Looking forward to your response with much anticipation,

I remain respectfully,

Sarah A. Wescot-Williams,

Member of Parliament (Democratic Party)

Marcel Gumbs mentioned 1 time
Sarah Wescot-Williams mentioned 3 times

Democratic Party [DP] mentioned 4 times
People's Progressive Alliance [PPA] mentioned 0 times