MPs during Monday’s meeting.
PHILIPSBURG--The Parliament of St Maarten approved the ENNIA Outline Agreement, as well as the addendum to save the country NAf. 37 million, on Tuesday, two days ahead of the October 10 deadline.
The approval came after Finance Minister Marinka Gumbs returned to Parliament with the Council of Ministers’ approval of the addendum. Gumbs agreed on Monday to seek the Council of Ministers’ approval for the addendum to the ENNIA Outline Agreement before continuing the meeting on the matter, despite the rejection of a proposal from National Alliance (NA) MP Ardwell Irion for the meeting to be adjourned for this to be done.
The agreement and addendum were approved by eight votes for and five against. Two MPs were absent from the meeting: National Alliance (NA) MP Egbert Doran due to illness and Democratic Party (DP) MP Grisha Heyliger-Marten.
Voting for were Sarah Wescot-Williams and Viren Kotai from the DP; Dr. Luc Mercelina, Richinel Brug and Sjamira Roseburg from Unified Resilient St Maarten Movement (URSM); Melissa Gumbs from Party for Progress (PFP); Lyndon Lewis from Nation Opportunity Wealth (NOW); and Franklin Meyers from Soualiga Action Movement (SAM).
Voting against were Ludmila de Weever from he PFP; Darryl York and Ardwell Irion from NA and Francisco Lacroes and Omar Ottley from United People’s party (UP).
A number of MPs motivated their reasons for voting the way they did.
Meyers thanked the minister for tabling her proposal and for being clear. He said the deliberations should have focused more on what could have been done to ensure that a situation like what happened in the ENNIA matter does not recur. He said the current situation had not been created by the current or the former finance ministers, but was just a situation in which the country found itself due to the negligence of the Central Bank for Curaçao and St Maarten (CBCS) and MPs should have been discussing how to ensure that other financial institutions operating in St Maarten do not end up in a similar situation of having to be bailed out.
Gumbs said that at the end of the day CBCS had failed in its responsibility. She said the warning had been signalled since 2013 and this issue had been a supervisory failure on the part of the CBCS. She stressed the importance of not “putting square pegs in round holes” when appointing persons to positions and indicated that if someone performs poorly in their role they need to be held accountable.
“We have to start at some point or we will end up in a circle that we are in now,” she stressed adding that this should apply to all government-related entities such as CBCS, GEBE, SZV and TelEm, etc. She expressed hope that the Finance Minister will keep a more attentive eye on red flags coming out of CBCS regardless of who is sitting on the board.
Mercelina made it clear that Parliament was not voting on the destiny of Mullet Bay, but was voting on whether or not they agree for the continuity of the pension dossier of the policy-holders.
Irion said he could not, in good conscience, vote favourably, given that Curaçao has not yet decided on the addendum.
Lewis said based on the minister’s presentation and the deliberations he is in agreement and would support the continuation of the progression of the matter. “We have to move forward at some point in time. We just have to continue with it,” Lewis said, adding that the minister has the best interest of the people of St Maarten at heart.
Wescot-Williams focused on the oversight aspect and recommended that Parliament’s Committee of Finance makes ENNIA a staple topic and as the minister requests updates regarding the implementation, Parliament can then request this from the minister.
Ottley stressed that St. Maarten has to stand up against blackmail and bullying and while not approving the agreement is at the risk of higher interest rates, he is not prepared to live on his knees. “I have taken action to stand against threats and I am advising St Maarten – let us stand,” Ottley said.
York took issue with Curaçao not yet agreeing to the addendum. He also highlighted that the issue is whether the potential gain outweighs the potential risk.
Lacroes said he had not heard whether St Maarten will get back the funds it puts in to save ENNIA, and as such it could not get his approval.
De Weever said she could not make a decision without all the facts. She said this does not mean that she cares less for some, but with the information at her disposal, she could not support it.
Roseburg stressed that the country must negotiate from a position of strength moving forward and indicated that Parliament should not be sidelined in the future when it comes to crucial decisions. She sees no better option available and, given that it is necessary to move forward, she voted in favour.
