PHILIPSBURG--“It was a shocking moment for me,” United People’s (UP) party Member of Parliament (MP) Rolando Brison said on Wednesday as he addressed his recent detention on charges of bribery and subsequent release, for which he remains a suspect.
Speaking during the notification round of the public meeting of Parliament on the draft budget on Wednesday, Brison urged the public to be wary of fake social media accounts and made it clear that he would never solicit or contact anyone via any social media that does not belong to him, for illicit purposes.
“Often times in St. Maarten we see these sort of fake Facebook and Instagram accounts, especially from politicians. Sometimes there [are] business people as well, but I would like to ask everyone to take those especially seriously. Particularly in my case there is a fake account. One that has most recently been active,” he explained.
“It is @rolandobriison with two I’s and I want to reiterate to everyone - the only social media that I own is @rolandobrison with one I on Instagram. It is Rolando Brison on Facebook and @rolandobrison on Twitter. There is never a moment that I will ever solicit or contact anyone from any other social media for any sort of illicit purposes,” the MP noted.
“I want to make that clear to everyone and I will be putting out a press statement in this regard where we will ask anyone if you every received any such messages or any sort of reports going forward, as well for any member of the United People's party for that matter, but from myself in particular [to inform us - Ed.] at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We are busy right now and that domain should be up. In the meantime, you can also email it to me personally at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. which is also my only personal email address that I use.”
He said his detention had been a very difficult moment. “As everyone knows, it was a very difficult Friday evening going into Saturday morning for myself, but their prayers and support made it very, very much easier than it could have probably been,” said Brison, adding, “It was a shocking moment for me - everything that has taken place and transpired on that day, but I am very happy and thank God, that I am here, especially today, to handle what I consider the most important piece of legislation that Parliament must handle every year.”
He also commented on the investigation process. “The investigators are doing their job. This is the system that they have and we have, of course, to understand that there is a judicial process, which I hope will continue and I hope for a positive outcome.”
The MP said he is happy to be in the House of Parliament for the budget debate. “I am happy to be here. We are ready for budget 2023. We are ready to ensure that we make the means available for the people of St. Maarten to be able to continue and function and that is why I am happy once again for all the love prayers and support from everyone,” he noted.
