Louis Mussington
MARIGOT--Territorial Councillor and opposition leader Louis Mussington has criticised French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s last-minute decision to visit St. Martin on Sunday, January 3, that appeared, according to Mussington, not to have any programme or purpose associated with it. The minister spent 24 hours in St. Barths following his visits to Guadeloupe and Martinique.
“St. Martin deserved better treatment than that,” said Mussington. “Time could have been spent on discussing issues of concern to the population. I thought, ‘Well, this will be an opportunity for the councillors to pose questions on the development of St. Martin, and issues arising from the coronavirus pandemic.’ It was unfortunate that this did not take place. I hope in the future we will be treated with more respect and dignity.”
Mussington said President Daniel Gibbs and Députée Claire Javois had boycotted a meeting with the minister. “I’m asking myself what we should read into that, how to interpret their absence. Boycotting a meeting is in itself a political act. Perhaps the president will enlighten us,” he said. “But it is important to continue dialogue with Paris, to reinforce the partnership with the State, as it is important to know where we are heading, on a financial level, for one thing.
“St. Martin is at a crossroads. The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a steep rise in unemployment among our young people and that can lead to criminality and insecurity. We have a severe shortage of housing for underprivileged families since Hurricane Irma and many roofs are still not repaired.
“We need to have a strong housing action plan drawn up with the State. There is still a high dropout rate in the education system, and aside from that we don’t have higher education in St. Martin and these are issues that should have been addressed to the minister.”
He said it was high time the Organic Law, under which the territory is governed, was modified.
“We are moving towards more political autonomy where additional powers can be transferred to the Collectivité. We still have the ongoing issue of compensation for the charges and responsibilities over the transfer of competences from 2007 when we became a Collectivité. This has to be re-examined, as we need those additional finances for budgets and investment programmes.”
Mussington said he hoped for more meaningful dialogue with the minister in the future, adding it must be made clear that for any ministerial visit at least a Territorial Council meeting should be convened to have constructive exchanges.
