~ The people need answers now ~
PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament (MP) Egbert Jurendy Doran said on Thursday that it is unacceptable that for the “umpteenth time” Parliament meetings are being postponed due to “lack of availability” of the concerned minister or ministers.
Doran’s comments were made after Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Stuart Johnson requested a postponement of the continuation of the important Central Committee meeting on the reconstruction status of Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA), which was originally scheduled for 10:00am today.
Doran said the meeting was postponed reportedly due to a “double booking” made by Johnson, who had previously confirmed his attendance to the meeting via an email to Parliament’s administration.
“The people deserve more from the government especially as far as it pertains to the reconstruction process and the effects it will have on the people,” Doran said in a press release issued Thursday evening. “This Central Committee meeting was a missed opportunity for the government to present to the people of St. Maarten the progress made in the reconstruction phase of the airport.”
Doran believes it is of utmost importance to note that Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin and every other minister in the country has a replacement in the event of their absence.
“This was also clearly stated by the Prime Minister directly after the swearing of the Council of Ministers when referring to the replacement law (vervangingsregeling) and she outlined which ministers replace each other in the event of absence and, therefore, postponing meetings or any other activity due to unavailability of a minister is rather unacceptable, as an explanation should also follow as to why said minister will not be replaced,” he said.
He said that lately the postponement of meetings in Parliament due to the unavailability of ministers has increased and Parliament as well as the people of this country who are looking for certain services need to know the reason for this.
“The airport, which is our main port to the world, is also one of St. Maarten’s main source of income which the people depend heavily upon. … Having the PJIA up and running as soon as possible is one of the main projects government must expedite. Therefore, postponing meetings where the people of this country are deprived of information and answers is not exactly what is expected of our government and we demand to see a betterment in this behaviour rather sooner than later,” he said.
The meeting, which has been postponed until further notice, was requested by United Democrats (UD) MPs Chanel Brownbill, Franklin Meyers and Sidharth “Cookie” Bijlani. Also on the agenda for the meeting was the invitation for one St. Maarten MP to participate in a delegation to attend the 73rd United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 18.
PJIA and Johnson have been making headlines recently over government’s move to dismiss the PJIA Holding (PJIAH) Company supervisory board of directors.
Johnson announced on Wednesday that the Council of Ministers (COM) had held an urgent decision-making session on Tuesday attended by members of the PJIAH supervisory board. The main subjects of discussion were the existing bond loan of PJIAH’s 100 per cent subsidiary (the operating company) and undertaken/necessary measures to safeguard both companies’ wellbeing.
“While COM initially decided to dismiss the supervisory board members of PJIA Holding Company with immediate effect, in further deliberations and considering all interests at hand, it amended that decision,” Johnson stated in a press release issued on Wednesday evening.
He sent a letter to the board on Wednesday morning and said that COM had amended its decision.
He explained in his press release that the amended decision now reads: “The Members of the Supervisory Board of the Holding Company are placed on notice of the intention of the shareholder to terminate their function as soon as possible. The shareholder will further seek the advice of the Corporate Governance Council on this subject, forthwith. The members of the Supervisory Board of the Holding Company are placed on non-active duty for a period of up to two months, starting August 1, 2018.”
The shareholder decided that the interests of PJIA Holding Company, the operating company, and Country St. Maarten would be protected by immediately and in any case expeditiously replacing the entire Supervisory Board of PJIA Holding Company. In case of immediate dismissal, logically no advice can be requested and obtained beforehand from the Corporate Governance Council.
In the interim, the PJIA managing board remains in place, and Michel Hodge, Patricia Lourens and Cleveland Beresford have been appointed to temporary positions as supervisory board members, to ensure that urgent work needed for the return of the airport to full function can be done, the release said.
