Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake says we need to raise the bar of politics to a higher level.
"The voting population sent a strong message in this year's parliamentary elections to the candidates and also to the leaders of the different political parties.
The people are looking for better representation, and the way the people's business is being handled should be in an open and transparent manner which I fully support.
"We need to raise the bar for the next four years and take care of our people. For the next four years I will be raising the bar in politics with my back to basics approach and take our country to the next level.
"I have listened and read the newspaper where outside critics for the past two weeks who have had a lot to say, but it is we who have to take the reins and bring about the change. As a new country, we have learnt a lot during the first four years of country status.
"We need to focus on the forest (country) instead of the trees (individuals). It is not going to be easy but we got to make firm decisions in the best interest to move this country forward for our people to prosper in the future.
"I believe we have a very good team now in place to take this country forward. It is what the people wanted and I am happy to be part of this team.
"Concerning the counterpart policy, this is nothing to fear, but we need all stakeholders to work together to make it work. Annually we give out millions of guilders in scholarships and the country needs to get its return on the investment made. Our young people want to work and we should be able to provide them with work once they get the training for the position. They have nowhere else to go but here, and they should be able to find work at home.
"The next four years in Government will be critical for the country and we need to move forward or we are going to lose our competitive edge in the Caribbean.
"We got back the results from the two integrity reports and we just got to implement the recommendations from the two reports. We don't need the outside world to define us.
"My mom always says: The people put their trust in you and all they are asking is for you to do the right thing with integrity and empower our people to succeed in their own country. I have no fear.
"You only have fear when you did something wrong or gis uilty of something. The only person I fear is GOD. It takes a lot for a person to put their trust in you, and all they are asking from their elected representative is not to let them down and show integrity and make firm decisions with the people at the forefront in whatever you do, because it is the people who put you there.
"My vision is to empower our people to become and continue to be leaders within their country and the world.
We can only do this as one collective body within Government.
"We need to raise the bar in parliament. If a project is good for the people, we got to get away from just focusing on the negatives of the project and put the emphasis on the benefits for the people, or bring a solution instead of just criticizing the project," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake concluded.
