UP MP Grisha Heyliger-Marten.
PHILIPSBURG--United People’s (UP) party Member of Parliament (MP) Grisha Heyliger-Marten has written to Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs on, amongst other things, the non-response to two letters sent to her on decolonization.
In the letter to Jacobs dated September 4, and captioned “developments related to decolonization,” the MP said no responses have been received to date to letters sent to Jacobs by the Chairperson of Parliament dated May 14, and her letter dated June 2. “Both are related to the finalisation of the decolonisation process, and unfortunately, I have been informed that no responses have been received to date.”
Heyliger-Marten updated Jacobs on the developments to date and sent a number of questions to the Prime Minister including, asking Jacobs when she intends to respond to the letters and what is her reason for not yet responding.
“Do you agree that the lack of responses to said letters is not consistent with your answer to the final question (question 20) of my letter sent to you on June 8, 2020, to which answers were received on October 6, 2020, in which you stated that the finalization of the decolonisation can and should be started as soon as possible? How do you explain this inconsistency? Have you seen (segments of) the CERD meetings of August 16 and 17? Did a preparatory meeting take place between your office and the representative of St. Maarten present at the CERD meeting, in which the official positions of the Parliament and the government of St. Maarten related to the topics discussed in the CERD meeting were discussed and established? If not, do you believe that this should have been the case and should be the case moving forward?” Heyliger-Marten asked.
She also asked whether Jacobs intended to have the Council of Ministers proactively approach the government of the Netherlands to ensure that it follows up on three recommendations contained in CERD’s “Concluding observations on the combined twenty-second to twenty-fourth reports of the Kingdom of the Netherlands” as soon as possible.
The recommendations include that the State party ensures autonomy of the people of the Caribbean part of the Kingdom and ensure their participation in decision-making processes in the State party that are of particular concern to them.
The Committee further recommends that the State party engage in a dialogue with representatives of the populations of the Caribbean part of the Kingdom who have been discriminated against because of perceived race or ethnic origin, in order to understand and address their concerns. The Committee also recommends that the State party take measures to address any discrimination against, and promote equality between Dutch citizens born in the Dutch Caribbean and those born in the European Netherlands.
Heyliger-Marten asked whether the PM believes that a follow-up can and should take place on the basis of/in conjunction with the contents of the letters sent to her on May 14 and June 2, as it relates to organising round table conferences and other political consultations. “If so, how do you concretely see this follow-up and what would be required from Parliament at this stage?” she asked.
The MP also asked a number of other questions. She said she looked forward to Parliament receiving the answers to the questions, and any other related responses.
