~ Funds to go to sports ~
PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament (MP) Rodolphe Samuel wants to revive his proposal for a one-guilder-cent levy per litre of gasoline and diesel fuel to be charged to motorists who tank up at the pumps.
The levy would not include cooking gas, jet fuel or fuel used by utilities company GEBE, only for motorists who tank up on gasoline and diesel fuel at the pumps.
His intention is for the funds to be applied to develop and support any and all areas of sports in the country.
“I have been looking and listening to the people … and one of the cries of the people is that there is nothing sufficient for the young people to do on the island. One of the things that is good for young people is sports,” Samuel said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
“I raised this idea of one guilder cent per litre before when I was in parliament and I got some feedback from my colleagues. I looked at it and decided when I come back with the proposal to parliament, it would be a proposal where we would only look at when you go to the gas station and you pump gas or diesel.
“For every litre you pump, we are asking you to pay one Dutch cent and this one Dutch cent would go in a fund and the fund would be separate from government, so government will not govern this money. A committee will be put in place to govern the money and the funds accumulated with the one cent per litre gas or diesel would be used to develop sports in St. Maarten.”
In the interest of transparency, Samuel said his idea is that the public will be able to see how much money is in the fund and where it is being applied.
He said the idea is for the fund to be used on any area of sports in the country.
