Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament (MP) George Pantophlet is calling on Ministers to give a long-overdue update on the amendment to the Civil Code to end the abuse of short-term labour contracts, the establishment of the Casino Gaming Board, the Dividend Policy and the Consumer Protection Agency.
Pantophlet said in a press statement Monday that they had had enough time to present to Parliament the changes or legislation for establishment of the various entities.
NA submitted draft amendments to Book VII of the Civil Code to correct the abuse of short-term labour contracts some 42 months ago.
Caretaker Labour Minister Cornelius de Weever has made "several changes" still in draft form to the relevant parts of the Civil Code and presented them to the Council of Ministers. Pantophlet wants a copy of that draft from the minister.
Pantophlet also wants to know the status of the draft policy to establish the St. Maarten Tourism Authority and the Casino Gaming Board. He said he had learnt that the Gaming Board was "controlled or should be supervised" by the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten, and that the involvement of the Financial Intelligence Unit MOT was "still needed."
Pantophlet also is interested in the Dividend Policy for government-owned companies. He was "not surprised" to read that the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT echoed his statements of some three years ago questioning why government was cash-strapped when its companies were "financially sound" and why these companies were not contributing sufficiently to government coffers.
The need for the establishment of the Consumer Protection Agency is acute. "Persons who purchase merchandise that are sometimes defective have no recourse when they want to launch a complaint," said the MP. He wants updates on the establishment of the agency and a small claims court from government.
Pantophlet said he hoped the Department of Economic Affairs still carried out controls at gas stations and supermarkets. He also wants information from government on the expansion of "the basket of goods."
