PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — It is with deep displeasure that we of the US Party have taken note of yet another added troublesome component to the already existing burden on the people of St. Maarten. Why is St. Maarten’s government delving into new projects rather than attending to the existing infrastructural necessities that are in dire need of repair when there is no clear pathway regarding the government’s plans to navigate our nation into fiscal prosperity?
Just last week, Bearing Point Consultancy won a court case for 1 million guilders while there are a plethora of other court cases and litigations that are still pending against the Government of St. Maarten. Furthermore, there are varying employees of government owned companies that have won labour cases against the government as well. Finally, there has been a great deal of pointless investments such as a property purchase in Cole Bay for some USD 4.5 million which cannot be assessed.
What exactly are we doing with the taxpayers’ money? We contend that this government is in breach of compliance of their duties as stated in our Constitution under Articles 3 (humiliating treatment), 4 (hard or forced labour), 19 (population security), 20.1 – 3
(provision of adequate employment), 21 (social and cultural development), and 22 (protection of natural environment).
The preceding articles of our Constitution are some of the key laws that this and previous governments of St. Maarten have failed to defend, promote, and uphold for the people of St. Maarten. By not addressing these issues, the government continues to display a high degree of baffling incompetence, but still they have the audacity to try and convince the people of St. Maarten that they are working in their best interest.
While the Netherlands as our colonizer is not in compliance with their sacred obligations under Articles 2, 5, and 73 (economic and social cooperation) of the United Nations Charter, the government is also transgressing countless articles in our own Constitution.
However, it seems like it’s business as usual for this government. Unfortunately, the “business” tends to be bad business whereby we continue to create debt while the Dutch State insists on toying with us via the utilization of Articles 17 (all Dutch nationals appointed to public office) and 23 (Dutch nationals residing in Sint Maarten have an equal right to elect the members of the general representative bodies).
Additionally, the Dutch tend to manipulate the justice system which is based on laws that contain loopholes which have not been amended by the Government of St. Maarten. It is high time that our government starts to prioritize the concerns and matters that need to be dealt with first.
