Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
BELAIR--Dollarisation, integrity, boosting the economy, and immigration were among the topics the leaders of the six political parties delved into during the third and final Arts Video Studios televised political debate in Belair Community Centre on Sunday ahead of Friday's Parliamentary Elections.
The first question posed to party leaders by moderator Paul De Windt, publisher of The Daily Herald, was the parties' stance on dollarisation of the country.
Social Reform Party (SRP) leader businessman Jacinto Mock, to whom the question was posed, said the country was not ready to make the US dollar its currency; this could only happen when St. Maarten was an independent country.
United People's (UP) party leader Member of Parliament (MP) Theo Heyliger said the country had to move forward with making the US dollar the official currency and make the Central Bank smaller, as its only task would be to monitor the commercial banks.
One St. Maarten People Party (OSPP) leader former commissioner Lenny Priest said the Netherlands Antilles guilder, the country's official currency worked well and there should be no change. He sees the present system as one that helps the country generate foreign exchange (US dollars).
National Alliance (NA) leader MP William Marlin said the country would better off with its own currency and more studies were needed on the question of dollarisation.
A referendum is needed to determine whether the population is in favour of dollarisation, said United St. Maarten Party leader MP Frans Richardson. He too called for studies on any change of currency.
Democratic Party ((DP)) leader Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams said her party was in favour of dollarisation and government had a report on the benefits of the switch.
The next question for the leaders pulled by De Windt from a yellow shoebox asked them for solutions to the country's crime rate.
Heyliger said the police needed better equipment, understaffing must be tackled and police must be stationed more in key areas. The Justice Academy needs to be finalised, he said.
Priest said crime would continue to be an issue until the country's unemployment level was tackled; people needed to be put to work.
Marlin said the country's education system must be tackled, along with job security. The high cost of living is "driving" people to crime.
Richardson said that to tackle crime, the police must know the root causes and those causes must be remedied.
Wescot-Williams outlined the improvements in the Justice System since St. Maarten attained country status.
Mock said police needed to look at the people who came to the country and committed crime at peak times such as Carnival.
All party leaders agreed on the urgent need for job creation, although they all had difference approaches to achieving this.
Priest said the country needed to expand its tourism markets and boost agriculture as a niche sector.
Marlin said tax relief was needed, especially by business start-ups, and the abuse of the short-term labour contract must be regulated.
Richardson sees job creation via a serious overhaul of the tax system to free up income and incentive for new businesses.
A sustainable economy is the best way to job creation, said Wescot-Williams.
Mock believes the granting of more permits and business licences will solve the problem, as well as the establishment of an agriculture department.
Heyliger said an apprenticeship programme must be adopted by businesses whereby youngsters are trained alongside imported workers so over time youngsters are trained for the jobs.
Integrity in government was a hot topic.
Marlin said voters should choose a party with integrity, like NA, to lead the country.
Richardson said he would wait for the integrity reports to be made available and these would set the direction the country needed to take.
Wescot-Williams said (DP) had been focusing on integrity, had established the Integrity Bureau and had trained civil servants about the existing laws.
Heyliger said integrity was a topic not only for politicians, but for the entire community, especially businesses, and his party would ensure the measures recommended in the report were taken.
Priest also called on voters to elect people of integrity into Parliament.
Controlling immigration was another major topic with which the party leaders dealt.
Wescot-Williams said government had done much to regulate immigration and better border control.
Mock said immigration was good for the country.
Heyliger said immigration was not only about people coming to the country, but about children who were born and raised here without a regulated status. Those children should be granted residence permits immediately, he said.
Priest said the immigration laws must be enforced. He advocates for the photographs of people who overstay their welcome in St. Maarten to be posted in the newspaper with a notice to report to the Immigration Department.
Marlin said more regulation was needed in the field of immigration. He countered that undocumented children had benefited from compulsory education when he was in government.
Richardson said illegal immigration could be tackled only by cohesive programmes involving the Dutch and French sides working together.
All party leaders except Mock are in favour of reviving the absentee ballot, in particular for St. Maarten students residing in the Netherlands. This would require changes to the existing laws and formulation of new one to regulate where and how votes are cast.
All party leaders agreed that economic diversification, strengthening of the economy, tax reform and financial discipline in government were necessary.
Regulation of social media via legislation to halt character assassination is an area party leaders believe needs to be addressed by Parliament.
The party leaders also tackled questions from the moderator, the audience and some sent in via e-mail about the need for stable government, a balance budget and curbing MPs from going independent after being elected to Parliament.
