PHILIPSBURG--Leaders of the various factions in Parliament weighed in, provided suggestions, and posed a number of questions on the draft 2020 budget during a virtual meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament on Saturday.
In an effort to expedite the Central Committee meeting so that today’s public meeting to handle the budget can proceed, it was decided that only faction leaders would speak on Saturday. This was successful, as the meeting wrapped up by mid-evening.
National Alliance (NA) faction leader William Marlin, the first MP to speak during the session, said St. Maarten is fighting a war against an invisible enemy when it comes to COVID-19. He said the death toll in the country is alarming and continues to rise, and government and the people together need to fight the war on several fronts. Government needs to keep the population healthy and alive while a vaccine is being awaited and the population needs to adhere to the guidelines given by government and remain at home as much as possible.
He stressed that St. Maarten, now more than ever, is dependent on “outside help” to survive this crisis. He said faction leaders can choose to ask many questions and keep the government busy for the next few days or weeks, but noted that if ever there was a time that all hands are needed on deck, it is now.
While there may be concerns and questions, what must be taken into account is the importance of moving the budgetary process forward quickly and “scoring a touchdown” in the form of an approval. This, he noted, would mean supporting the budget to ensure that “our people who are waiting on help,” can receive this help.
For today’s public session, he said each individual MP will get their usual 90 minutes speaking time in first round, as “the people have a right to know” where MPs stand on some of the issues and concerns that exist.
Representing the United People’s (UP) party faction, MP Grisha Heyliger-Martin said the budget does not reflect the current realities, but UP recognises and understands the legal need for passing the budget to ensure that “urgently needed relief” can be delivered to residents.
She said that despite this reality, UP must hear some commitments from Finance Minister Ardwell Irion and government on how and when a more realistic budget will be presented to Parliament. “I want it to be clear that the United People’s Party’s support of this emergency measure is contingent on the Minister of Finance delivering a realistic budget that takes into account the economic needs of people and businesses still suffering, post-[Hurricane – Ed.] Irma,” Heyliger-Marten said.
“That budget must take into account the still-urgent need for housing after Hurricane Irma so that those without proper homes can finally have one. It must consider the need to improve our health system to deal with these challenges, as experts predict there will likely be a resurgence of COVID-19 in the future.
“It must also consider the loss of business and, by extension, jobs, and the need to invest more in destination marketing and investor scouting to improve our economic situation. And, it must have the necessary ingredients to foster improvements in social development and improve our education system, from day-care to tertiary education.”
United St. Maarten Party (US Party) faction leader Claudius “Toontje” Buncamper said the budget as it stands is in “serious trouble” and with “the serious loss” of income projected at NAf. 108 million an increase of expenses of NAf. 124 million and an existing deficit of NAf. 31 million prior to COVID-19, “St. Maarten has some problems.”
He said US Party was going to be asking critical questions so it does not lose a day for answering, seeing the deadline of May 1 to pass the budget. He said US Party is on “team St. Maarten and we will be on board to get this country back on track.”
Party for Progress (PFP) faction leader Melissa Gumbs said the draft budget is “not a true fiscal picture of the country’s finances,” considering the economic and fiscal realities that have been and will continue to impact St. Maarten due to COVID-19. She said PFP is and has been on deck with its support throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
“You and your ministries have no shortage of work ahead of you in the months to come, which I am sure you know. But I want to caution all of you to understand that we cannot go back to business as usual. If COVID-19 has shown us anything, it is that business as usual has been a large part of the problem,” Gumbs said.
Hurricane Irma, she added, exposed the underlying conditions with which the country has been plagued since the time after Hurricane Luis in 1995. “COVID-19 has exploited those underlying conditions, and this faction urges the government: while we look at improving our tourism product and re-opening this country to the world, I caution that we do not continue to forget the only resource that powers this country’s economy – the people.”
She said whether they speak English, Dutch, Creole, Spanish or whether they have a “St. Maarten last name” or not, the country has to come to the realisation that if it does not build its people, it cannot re-open Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) and Port St. Maarten.
“We can build hotels, office buildings … it will all be for nothing as long as we do not undertake serious measures to address the social issues impacting our communities and affecting our most precious resource: our people.”
She said PFP looks forward to Irion’s planned cost-cutting measures, and urged him to look at the examples within the Kingdom. “The PFP faction stands ready to make whatever sacrifices are necessary to ease the burden of this crisis on the most vulnerable among us, and we encourage swift adoption of this attitude across the board,” Gumbs said.
United Democrats (UD) faction leader Sarah Wescot-Williams said St. Maarten is far behind the constitutional deadline on the budget. She said that while the budget may be considered just a formality by some given the current circumstances, there are some cardinal issues that cannot go unquestioned and until there is another approved budget by Parliament, the draft currently on the table is the one for which parliament will be held responsible.
She stressed that despite the May 1 budgetary deadline, parliament must maintain its budget right.
