Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
Vorst land purchase to be omitted from 2014 budget amendment
~ 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 Read more
Budget amendment meet called off again due to lack of quorum
PHILIPSBURG--The public plenary session of Parliament on amendments to the 2014 budget was cancelled for the second time on Friday, as only four Members of Parliament (MPs) showed up and signed in for the meeting.
The meeting was first called off on Wednesday, due to the lack of a quorum when seven MPs were signed in, though United People's (UP) party MPs and Independent MP Dr. Lloyd Richardson had been in the building.
Present at Friday's session were National Alliance (NA) MPs Hyacinth Richardson and George Pantophlet, Democratic Party (DP) MP Roy Marlin and United People's (UP) party MP Gracita Arrindell Read more
No quorum for budget amendment meeting
~ UP, Dr. Richardson, Illidge, De Weever absent ~
PHILIPSBURG--The public plenary session of Parliament on amendments to the 2014 budget was cancelled on Wednesday due to the lack of a quorum, as only seven Members of Parliament (MPs) were signed in.
Parliament Press Secretary Roddy Heyliger said in a press release last night that the session had been rescheduled to Friday at 10:00am.
At least eight MPs are needed for the meeting to proceed Read more
MPs concerned about TelEm-Digicel accord
PHILIPSBURG--Members of Parliament (MPs) have expressed concern about the signing of a financial information sharing contract between the St. Maarten Telephone Group of Companies TelEm and regional telecom company Digicel.
Democratic Party (DP), National Alliance (NA) and Independent MPs Frans Richardson and Patrick Illidge expressed concerns during a meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament on Friday, to handle amendments to the 2014 budget.
Neither United People's (UP) party MPs nor independent MP Dr Read more
Kingdom Relations Committee swiftly deals with hefty agenda
PHILIPSBURG--Parliament's Permanent Committee for Kingdom Affairs and Inter-Parliamentary Relations, chaired by outgoing Member of Parliament (MP) Roy Marlin Democratic Party (DP), swiftly dealt with a twelve-point agenda covering several kingdom treaties, motions and other business on Tuesday morning, in Parliament House.
Marlin outlined the agenda and suggested the points that needed the committee simply to take note of and the ones that needed to be left for the incoming committee and its new chairman to handle.
A list of treaties in the preparatory phase and Country St Read more
Motion passed to restrict outgoing ministers’ actions
PHILIPSBURG--A motion calling on Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams to inform individual ministers of the Wescot-Williams III Cabinet "to not make any long-term policy, financial and/or decisions of such a nature as granting lands in long lease, bus and taxi licences, concessions, hiring and placement of personnel in crucial functions" was adopted by a majority of Members of Parliament (MPs) in the closing meeting of the 2013-2014 parliamentary year on Monday.
The motion was presented by MP Roy Marlin (Democratic Party (DP)) and also signed by six other MPs.
The motion further called on the ministers to refrain from making any decision on the waste-to-energy concession or any other decision "that may obstruct or encumber the incoming government from functioning adequately during the next governing term."
The motion also requested the prime minister to inform the individual ministers who are shareholder's representatives of government-owned companies "to instruct management and boards of these companies to refrain from entering into long-term agreements and sign contracts that may negatively affect or bind these companies for a long term."
The motion was presented by MP Roy Marlin after he requested an addition to an agenda of the plenary session of Parliament Read more
Heyliger: UP parliamentarians to be ‘formidable’ opposition
PHILIPSBURG--Developments over the past days will see the United People's (UP) party playing its role in Parliament from the opposition benches. UP party Leader Member of Parliament Theo Heyliger said the party and its Members of Parliament (MPs) "will be a formidable force to be reckoned with when it comes to the role of keeping the government in check."
"We are ready to govern, to hold in check and control the decision of the coalition government that is in the making Read more