PHILIPSBURG--Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment, and Infrastructure VROMI Egbert Doran sent the Nature Policy Plan 2021-2025, established in September 2022, to Parliament that same month for Members of Parliament (MPs) “to take note of”.
The minister denies that this policy requires approval from Parliament, although the law states otherwise, said MP Sarah Wescot-Williams.
According to the National Nature Ordinance (Landsverordening grondslagen natuurbeheer en –bescherming (A.B. 2013, GT no. 809), the VROMI Minister is required to establish a national Nature Policy Plan (Natuurbeleidsplan) and a Nature Plan (Natuurplan) once every five years. The Nature Policy Plan serves as a general framework for nature policy and the Nature Plan outlines a framework of the tangible activities that will be realised during the planning period to achieve the objectives and priorities of the Nature Policy Plan.
Minister Doran announced in June 2022 that he had approved the establishment of a Nature Policy Plan, and that this document had been placed on the website of VROMI for public review.
“This plan aims to serve up until the end of 2025 as a foundation for sound decision-making and provide support for the allocation of resources and funds as related to nature,” Doran said in a press release issued on September 28, 2022. “This document is intended to guide government entities, non-governmental organisations, industry, research, and the community as a whole.”
As this is the first nature policy plan published by the country of St. Maarten, Doran said, “It embraces a range of ambitious policy objectives that were developed in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders and originates from the local, regional, and international obligations that St. Maarten must adhere to.
“Overall, the vision of this Nature Policy Plan 2021–2025, and the accompanying Nature Plan, is to embody a shift in traditional attitudes toward nature conservation by embracing the value and importance of nature as a tool to develop resilience towards a changing climate and an asset necessary for economic growth and stability, and citizen well-being.”
When asked about the approving of the Nature Policy Plan, Doran replied that this plan does not require approval from Parliament, said Wescot-Williams. “But the minister is mistaken about that. This policy plan is not just for Parliament to take note of, as proposed by Minister Doran. This plan needs the approval of Parliament.”
She pointed to the role of parliament to test policy against the constitution, to determine what policy instruments are used and what the financial consequences of legislation are for government and social sectors.
She asked Doran whether there is a Nature Commission. “The minister said, ‘No, there is no Nature Commission,’” she recalled. “However, according to law, St. Maarten must have a Nature Commission consisting of representatives of the public and private sectors, as well as civil society.”
Wescot-Williams referred to the national ordinance containing rules on the management of nature and the protection of animal and plant species occurring therein. Chapter 2, article 2, states sub 1) that once every five years the minister draws up a national nature policy plan, which also implements the international obligations entered into in this respect, and sub 2) the nature policy plan requires the approval of Parliament.
She said she finds it incomprehensible that the minister is blatantly ignoring the national ordinance’s key provisions. Article 3 of the National Ordinance states: “There is a Nature Management and Protection Committee” and “The committee has the task of advising the minister, on request or on its own initiative, on measures to implement this national ordinance.”
The law stipulates that the committee consists of five members, including a chairman. The members of the committee are appointed for a period of five years. The members and deputy members are appointed, suspended and dismissed by national decree. Each year, the committee elects a chairman from among its members. The Head of the Department of Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure or an employee to be designated by him is the committee’s secretary.
The committee is authorised by law to call in experts for advice, with the expenditure being charged to the budget of St. Maarten. Wescot-Williams noted that the Government’s 2023 budget does not include an item for the Nature Management and Protection Committee. “Nevertheless, the majority in parliament approved the budget,” said Wescot-Williams.
She urges Doran to present the Nature Policy Plan and the Nature Plan in a public meeting of parliament, and to explain the absence of a Nature Management and Protection Committee. “I don’t see the minister practising what he preaches about out fragile environment and ecosystem,” she said. “The nature committee is an ally, not a feared adversary.”
