PHILIPSBURG – On July 17, UPP Faction leader and Member of Parliament (MP) Frankie Meyers appeared on radio show “Breakfast with de Robert” where several topics were discussed.
One of the topics was Government using Government-owned company GEBE to plug the holes of the country’s budget. An example was given of the request by the current National Alliance (NA)-led Government to withdraw NAf. 30 million from GEBE’s account to balance the country’s budget, while it is clear that GEBE is facing its own challenges.
MP Meyers stressed on the fact that he believes that Government-owned companies should pay dividends, but that Government-owned companies should not be forced to pay for the mismanagement of Government.
When the NA board learnt of MP Meyers’ statement, they found it necessary to issue a press release full of personal attacks on MP Meyers, his fellow MPs and leader of the UPP Theodore Heyliger, and worse yet, blatantly made false accusations towards MP Meyers’ wife.
A furious MP Meyers stated: “It seems like whenever they want to get at me, it is my wife that becomes their target. I want to make one thing perfectly clear I, Franklin Meyers am not a door mat for anyone to wipe their feet on!”
“The interesting part in their statement is that they can remember everything that the UPP party does or did, but their selective amnesia allows them to forget where in 1998 the then SPA-NA, had TelEm take a loan to the tune of US $5 million to pay dividends to government. Secondly, the Falcon switch, which was bought for the tune of US $2 million in 1996 by TelEm while the former leader of the SPA was commissioner of telecom. This switch was never used. It cannot be that government mismanages its own funds and when they fall short, they rinse out government-owned companies to advance their own political agenda,” MP Meyers stated.
“How can the NA board speak of a 30-day loan from SZV for the harbor to pay for a settlement in a court case, but mentions absolutely nothing about a US $50 million loan to finalize the completion of the government administration building?” he asked.
“To the people of St. Maarten, I want to make one thing abundantly clear: No ‘deal’ in any way was offered to my wife at any time in relation to the undersea fiber cable project. But this is the modus operandi of the National Alliance, to slander people’s names for their own political gain. Case in point: my wife’s name was also mentioned in bringing in 300 taxis and in her owning shares in the Pelican Resort. These are all lies! It cannot be that when I, as a parliamentarian, ask questions to this Government or make statements about THIS Government’s mismanagement that the Board of the National Alliance throws up a smoke screen and levels accusations that are blatant lies” concluded MP Meyers.
