United People’s (UP) Party Faction.
PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – United People’s (UP) Party Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lakesaid on Wednesday that Government, its workers and civil society are constantly being distracted while investors become weary with the unfounded rumours about the fall of the current government.
UP MP Lake has strongly dismissed gossip that he plans to break with the current UP-led coalition and form a new one with MPs from the opposition and others from the current coalition.
“I want to make it abundantly clear, as I told my good friend Billie Dee from SOS Radio Station on Wednesday morning; no one speaks on behalf of Maurice Lakeother than Maurice Lake. When Maurice Lake makes the decision to make a change, he will personally make it known to the media. It is so unfortunate that vicious blog posts are given legitimacy as if it is a fact.”
“We need to understand that governance is not a game. This is why I am constantly calling for political maturity in this country. Our people also need to understand that not everything placed on the internet is true. Unfortunately, we have people who know that and write anything that pops into their mind to create sensationalism without fact checking or proof, and they do so without any consequences for creating a negative image about our country which has serious consequences for all of us and our economy,” UP MP Lake said on Wednesday.
The MP added he has indeed been critical about government and its handling or non-handling of issues affecting the country.
“This is political maturity! I just can’t sit back and see our people suffer and nothing is being done to improve their quality life. Not because I support the government means I will be silent and go with the flow of Government.
“As an MP, I have a responsibility to see that government and Parliament works for the people. It’s like Transparency International pointed out in their report that Parliament needs to use its oversight function. I did not need a report to tell me that. I am performing my job as required of an MP in bring forth my oversight in a back to basics approach.
“We have a lot of our people hurting, out of jobs, need housing, medical care, and we need to work with the private sector to build our economy. It is high time we get serious by putting a plan of action for priority issues. I am looking forward to getting this done with my party and coalition partners once the recess is over.
“The Governing Programme is starting point. Now, government needs to execute the policies and projects, especially in the areas of economic development and tourism – our life blood,” UP MP stated.
“We need to sit down with some key stakeholders in the private sector, share our marketing budget and see how they can contribute.
“The Council of Ministers must ensure the talents of all qualified civil servants are optimally tapped into and that they are placed in the right ministry and the right position suited to their background and expertise. This will speed up the process to draft and amend legislation to better serve the people. Our people have passion and drive. They just need more motivation and for ministers to listen to advices from the people on the front line.
“I am still waiting to get an update about the Solid Waste Ordinance, Kadaster amendment to VROMI, abolishing of the Expat law and many other legislation which is just sitting on someones desk and slowly going through the process. We need a solid system of checks and balances to make sure work is done and afterwards that the laws and policies are enforced,” said the UP MP.
“All political parties came up short in the latest TI report, which should be a good indication to all political leaders to step up to the plate and start leading in a mature manner.
“We need to get our act together and provide stability for our country and start setting priorities and quick wins projects to get this economy up and running again. The people only care to have a Government and Parliament that works and is effective.
“It’s high time our leaders start leading and setting priorities and guidelines for our Government to start executing the people’s work and start addressing the issues that are affecting our people on a daily basis. We can only do this together as one and show political maturity,” UP MP Maurice Lake concluded.
