Philipsburg, St. Maarten, — Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams has requested Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure, the Honorable Mr. Christopher Emmanuel and Minister of Health Care, Social Development & Labor, the Honorable Mr. Emil Lee to answer the following questions urgently.
- Can the Parliament be told of the conditions, selection and the criteria of the roof repair program?
- Will this include self-help?
- Is it coordinated with the Red Cross roof repair program?
- Can the Parliament be told how the bidding took or will take place?
- The selection of contractors?
- Please make the criteria public.
The recent announcement that a roof repair program will finally start was a welcomed one for MP Wescot, who on October 26th, decided to force the hand of Government to accept the conditions set by the Dutch Government to release the reconstruction aid from said country.
In motivating her questions, the MP elaborated as follows:
The money we “scorned” will now help us to build back and build back stronger. The money for the roof repair program is also Dutch aid, because it is from the deficit budget, for which the Government is expecting to receive budgetary assistance as part of the reconstruction aid from the Netherlands, MP Wescot said in her letter to the Ministers.
“It is unfortunate that the Government is not making haste with the law that is supposed to legitimize their financial spending during these times, including legitimizing the roof repair program expenses. Especially in these times, the Government should do everything to avoid any semblance of politicizing the relief and reconstruction programs.”, the MP further started.
