Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
~ Roy's amendment to budget amendment passed ~
PHILIPSBURG--An amendment to remove the purchase of the Vorst Estate property from a budget amendment tabled by Finance Minister Martin Hassink was passed during a public plenary session of parliament on Monday.
It was the third time the meeting had been convened to handle this and other issues. The first two meetings were cancelled due to lack of quorum. The motion, which was tabled by Democratic Party ((DP)) Member of Parliament (MP) Roy Marlin, was passed by seven of MPs voting in favour of the amendment and six voting against it.
Supporting the motion were author Roy Marlin, National Alliance (NA) MPs William Marlin, Hyacinth Richardson, George Pantophlet and Louie Laveist and Independent MPs Frans Richardson and Romain Laville. Voting against the motion were United People's (UP) party MPs Theo Heyliger, Silvia Meyers-Olivacci, Jules James, Johan "Janchi" Leonard and Gracita Arrindell and Independent MP Dr. Lloyd Richardson. MPs Leroy de Weever ((DP)) and Patrick Illidge (Independent) did not attend the meeting.
With MPs voting along party lines and along alliances, the passing of the motion came down to Laville, who concluded based on answers to his questions to Hassink, that Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (VROMI) Minister Maurice Lake did not follow proper procedures when he signed an agreement to purchase the Vorst property for US $495 per square metre. Hassink, amongst other things, said Lake did not bring the matter before the Council of Ministers before signing the agreement with the Vorst family. Hassink said this needed to be done.
The actual amendment to the budget was passed unanimously. The amendment included the purchase of Emilio Wilson Park for US $17 million; the reduction of Parliament's travel budget by approximately NAf. 370,000; the re-allocation of the funds to subsidies and the controversial change in the financing proposal for the Vorst Estate land. The passing of Roy Marlin's amendment to Hassink's budget amendment means that the purchase of the Vorst property is to be omitted from the budget amendment.
Roy Marlin had reiterated earlier in the debate that he was not in favour of the process Lake followed for the purchase of the Vorst Estate land. He said the process was not transparent and had been unclear. He had indicated that if his amendment was not passed he would have still supported the budget amendment tabled by the minister.
Pantophlet said government's actions "must be based on the law" and should be transparent. Real estate is already expensive in St. Maarten and is out of the reach of locals and purchasing land for US $495 per square metre would only compound this situation as a precedence would be set for the future sale of land.
Dr. Lloyd Richardson queried whether Parliament had overspent its budget by just over NAf. 100,000 and queried how this will be handled, given that one of the amendments was the reduction of Parliament's travel budget.
Laville wanted to know whether Hassink had informed Lake that he could enter into a contract for an amount exceeding what had been allotted to his ministry. Laville said the question was important for him as it would have determined how he voted for Roy Marlin's amendment to the budget amendment. He said the issue was not about Lake, but about whether correct procedures had been followed. Hassink said he was not authorized to tell any minister to sign a contract. He only advises them about what is available in the budget. Hassink said each minister had a certain amount on their capital accounts and they have to prioritize their financing to keep within that limit.
Laville said he did not want a precedence to be set that ministers sign agreements for more than what is allocated to them "holding the country financially liable." The independent MP said it appeared as though there is a "war" between the governing coalition partners (UP and (DP)) not speaking to each other and he found himself in the middle.
Laveist said he had no issue with Lake or the Vorst family, but noted that the price of US $495 per square metre being charged for the property was exorbitant and a negative precedence that would be set if this is allowed to occur.
Heyliger made enquiries related to the capital expenditure for the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC). He also enquired whether any discussions had been held with hospital or in the ministry that an amount of funds be allocated to assist SMMC with payment for the plans needed to either facilitate the current hospital structure, a new, expanded or renovated hospital. Hassink said each minister was responsible for his or her budget so if the minister of health puts a certain amount on the capital account; there was no problem with this.
William Marlin said it had been unfortunate that Parliament was only now handling the budget amendment presented months ago. He said after the first meeting of the central committee did not go through, the rules of order had been "put aside for whatever reason" and repeated calls for it to be held fell on deaf ears. When the meeting was brought again to Parliament, he said it took three meetings to "drag the members supporting the government out to form a quorum" knowing that without a quorum the decision that are taken would be valid and binding.
He said while NA did not support the budget, it will support the budget amendment minus the Vorst land purchase. He said NA objects to the manner in which the Vorst deal was done as it had not been open and transparent and was not in keeping with good governance practices.
He said the minister had signed an agreement without taking the matter to the Council of Ministers or Parliament adding that the amount to be paid for the land was "astronomically high" at US $495 per square metre.
James commented on the country's liquidity position and reserves. He said government's liquidity position had been improving and he enquired what steps the minister was taking regarding the liquidity position.
Hassink said there is usually a significant decline in income during the second half of the year. He said government was able to add some to liquidity by financing old investments. The minister said too that other ways have to be looked at to build up reserves.
Hyacinth Richardson said he does not support the Vorst purchase.
Leonard asked Hassink whether he had advised Lake on a budget related to the purchase of the Vorst Estate property. He also enquired what had been the advice of the Legal Affairs Department to the Council of Ministers. He also asked whether a "price increase" had occurred without the consent and knowledge of the Council of Ministers. After the minister answered questions posed in the first round Leonard said his question had not been answered. Leonard's temper flared when he was apparently asked to repeat his question. The MP said he would not be repeating his question noting that ministers were being brought to parliament and were "not listening" to MPs. Leonard said the minister should ask his support staff about the questions he asked because he was not repeating them.
After a brief break, Hassink advised Leonard to pose his questions to the VROMI and General Affairs ministers as he did not have the answers. Regarding a price increase, Hassink said he does not have that information and he "doesn't even know where to get them."
