Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
Dear Editor,
And so we continue
ON QUOTE: The advice is already on the Council of Ministers agenda, so we only need to ensure that the complete file in hard copy is signed by everyone and then submitted to the Secretariat, as quickly as possible. If you adjust the attached advice and draft the decree, then VROMI will take care of the necessary signatures. Email forwarded by Minister Miklos Giterson to Raeyhon Peterson – February 20, 2018
Bribery
The Oxford dictionary defines a bribe as: a sum of money or something valuable that you give or offer to somebody to persuade them to help you, especially by doing something dishonest
In part one of this series of articles I (the writer “To be Continued”) brought to light the fact that the accusations against MP Christopher Emmanuel and his Chief of Staff that procedures were not followed where it pertains to the issuance of government long lease land is a fabrication, as there is no policy and thus no structural procedures.
In the article, mention was made of certain players involved in the entire conspiracy. Today I will focus on someone I call the Tool. The most valuable player as he portrayed himself to be. We will take a closer look at Raeyhon Peterson, the former acting head of Domain Affairs, with a conviction on his head since April of 2018, now a candidate on the Party for Progress, and the central role he played in this entire situation. As Peterson is now a public figure vying for public office, every aspect of his actions are open for public scrutiny.
While reading this article, please be reminded of the definition of bribery, as its relevance will become clear!
The mistake
In October of 2017 then Minister Christopher Emmanuel gave a junior employee within Domain Affairs, who some may call a young professional, having started working in government in 2016, an opportunity of a lifetime to function in the position of Department Head of Domain Affairs in an acting capacity. This, what to many would seem like an admirable decision by Emmanuel, will unfortunately lead to a plot to destroy him.
An extreme case of hypocrisy and maliciousness
From all indications, the origin of the entire case surrounding Emmanuel and his chief advisor stems from statements made by Raeyhon Peterson himself, based on his personal, hypocritical, unsubstantiated opinions that he put forward as fact.
Peterson provided information to then Minister Giterson, whereby the impression was given that Emmanuel broke every rule in the book while issuing parcels of long lease to a number of local residents. What Peterson omitted to tell his minister and especially the judicial authorities, is that he partook in activities during the entire Over the Bank saga, which completely contradicts what he has said about Emmanuel and his chief advisor.
However, the worst part of it all is that he was promised that he would be heavily rewarded for his malicious actions!
I have the proof and will share that with you today.
The Over the Bank saga – continued
As indicated in the first article, then Minister Angel Meyers, in August of 2016 requested the Department of Domain Affairs to assist with the issuance of land in the Over the Bank area. It was agreed that Domain Affairs would provide the minister with a draft deed and advice in order for the Cabinet of the Minister to prepare the required documents for the issuance of said land.
What is important for you to know is that the land in question was in litigation. The Government of St. Maarten was at the time involved in a court case with a person who claimed to be the owner of the land. The land therefore could not be transferred to anyone by Minister Meyers. Yet he proceeded, with the assistance of the Department of Domain Affairs, to make empty promises to persons that they would be granted a parcel of land in long lease, for which they had to pay cadastral fees.
The lists
So how were these persons chosen that would be lucky enough to get a parcel of land?
List Nr. 1.
I draw your attention to an email dated May 22, 2016 and May 23, 2016. Strangely enough the email was sent on both days by former Member of Parliament Maurice Lake to himself. A few questions came to my mind that hopefully one of the players can answer:
– What is a member of parliament doing with a list of persons for land Over the Bank?
– Where did he get this list from, as the Minister did not inform the Department of Domain Affairs about the project until July 25, 2016?
– Did the Member of Parliament decide who can get land or did the Minister?
Conflict of interest??
I hereby send you the list of the requests for Over the Bank I have until now. From Raeyhon Peterson to the then Head of Domain Affairs.
This brings us to List Nr. 2.
A list of 103 persons was compiled by Domain Affairs, which they wrote would go back to a period of 5 years.
This is surprising, because from the list of 103 persons prepared by Peterson, the following can be deduced:
– 93 requests were submitted in 2016
– 38 of the 93 requests were submitted after the minister informed Domain Affairs of his intentions to grant land in the area in question
– only 10 requests were submitted prior to 2016
Most significant is the fourth person listed under Young professionals (Motivated request): Raeyhon Peterson himself!!
Peterson, 4 days after being informed of the project, submitted a motivated request for a parcel of land in the Over the Bank area on July 29, 2016.
He then proceeded to include himself in the list that was supplied to the minister of prospective candidates.
Unfortunately for Peterson the minister decided to proceed with his own lists, which were discussed in my previous article.
So I ask these questions directly to Peterson:
– Do you deem your actions to fall within the context of a conflict of interest?
– Were other applicants disadvantaged?
– Should you be reported to the National Detectives for abuse of your function as a civil servant?
– Did you become disgruntled because you did not receive the land?
The Pay-off!!
On February 20, 2018, 6 days before the Parliamentary Elections of 2018 and less than a week after the story broke about the issuance of long lease land by former Minister Emmanuel, former Minister Giterson forwarded email correspondence to Raeyhon Peterson in regards to an urgent advice for Peterson himself. I draw your attention to the following statement in the email:
The advice is already on the Council of Ministers agenda, so we only need to ensure that the complete file in hardcopy is signed by everyone and then submitted to the Secretariat, as quickly as possible. If you adjust the attached advice and draft the decree, then VROMI will take care of the necessary signatures.
Raeyhon Peterson recently filed a court injunction against the Minister of VROMI for removing him from filling in as Head of Domain Affairs. In his petition to the courts, Peterson indicated over and over again that he was promised that he would be appointed officially as the Head of Domain Affairs.
As proof of the intention of Minister Giterson to appoint him as Head of Domain Affairs, Peterson presented the above mentioned email. The email was directed to the then Head of the Personnel Department from the Policy Advisor of the Minister of Finance Michael Ferrier, who took office on January 15th, 2018 as part of the Leona Romeo-Marlin 1 Cabinet. From the email it is clear that the Council of Ministers considered this to be an urgent matter as it was already tabled for discussion before even being advised on and signed.
Moreover, Peterson apparently was the most important civil servant in government at the time as 3 documents were being handled for him at the same time, that clearly had the attention of the ministers involved.
Please read the objective opinion of the Personnel Department and draw your own conclusions:
Head of Domain Affairs is a heavy position. While possibly a good potential candidate in the future, the candidate has been in service for less than 2 years with no management experience and little work experience other than temporary administrative work as a student. Considering the above P&O sees no grounds that warrant a deviation from proper selection procedure according (edited) to personnel policy.
So, let me ask the following to Peterson, Louis Brown the SG, former Minister Giterson, the other ministers from the Leona Romeo-Marlin Cabinet 1 and especially the National Detectives and Prosecutors Office:
– Who promised to appoint Peterson in the function without following the established procedures and why?
– Why was it so urgent to appoint Peterson in the function 6 days before the Parliamentary elections of 2018, after having worked less than 4 months in the function?
– How come this urgent advice for his placement surfaced and was being pushed just about 6 days after the story against Emmanuel broke in the final run-up to the elections of 2018?
Which one of you will provide me with an answer?
I take you back to my opening, which stated that the Oxford dictionary defines Bribery as:
a sum of money or something valuable that you give or offer to somebody to persuade them to help you, especially by doing something dishonest
Sign by
To be continued….!!!
Click here to read Part #1…….. PART # 1: The Conspiracy to Ruin MP Christopher Emmanuel
Editor Note:Below is aset of Documents send by the writer To be Continued.!! to back the statements of this second Letter to the Editor.
Email forwarded by Minister Miklos Giterson to Raeyhon Peterson – February 20, 2018
The post PART # 2: The Conspiracy to Ruin MP Christopher Emmanuel,…. appeared first on 721news.com.
