PHILIPSBURG--Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament Leroy de Weever, with the input of DP MP Roy Marlin, received unanimous Parliamentary support for a motion to improve timeshare protection early Thursday morning following the debate on the 2011 budget in Parliament.

The National Alliance (NA) supported the motion although the DP and UP factions had withdrawn their support earlier for three NA motions after initially signing on to supporting the motions.

MP William Marlin said he had been taught that “a man is as good as his words” and proceeded to support the motion followed by the other members of the NA.

De Weever said his initiative should be considered the first step in the legislative process to enhance timeshare consumer protection to the benefit of the timeshare owners and in the interest of the people of St. Maarten.

The initiative is premised on the Pelican saga, which saw the resort sold by the lender in an auction pursuant to foreclosure. De Weever said foreclosure on St. Maarten timesharing resorts had occurred various times in the past and the pattern of the unfolding events was strikingly similar.

“The recent Pelican Timeshare Resort crisis provoked a considerable number of negative reactions in the local media and on the Internet, whereby also the St. Maarten Government and its Parliament were not spared criticism, justified or not,” De Weever said. “It appears from these reactions that there is a general lack of understanding of the nature of timeshare rights and the protection of the entitled parties to such rights.”

The initiative presented on Wednesday during the 2011 budget amendment debate highlights basic aspects of the already-existing timeshare legislation and provides some recommendations to improve timeshare consumer protection.

The motion resolves:

* To instruct the Council of Ministers to allocate an amount of NAf. 200,000 from the tourism budget (to Parliament’s budget), which funds will be used solely for the drafting and amendment of legislation that will be enacted to protect the rights of timeshare owners and create a timeshare regulatory board;

* That Parliament will request the services of Professor Jan de Boer (member of the Common Court of Justice of Curacao, Aruba, St. Maarten and the BES islands) to bring about the proposed changes to the civil code in accordance with the timeshare consumer protection review and suggestions;

* That during the preparation of the legislation Professor De Boer will consult the stakeholders, for them to provide pertinent information on this matter.

* That during the preparation of the legislation Professor Jan de Boer will update the Central Committee of Parliament regularly on the progress of the work towards the amendments of the respective legislation;

* That the draft legislation by Professor De Boer be completed and submitted to the Parliament of St. Maarten ultimately October 30, 2011.

Considerations for the motion included:

* To amend the law to stipulate that timeshare rights exceeding a certain monetary value (or a certain number of weeks) must be in the legal form of Timeshare Apartment Rights;

* Establish a Timeshare Regulatory Board with the authority to monitor, supervise and enforce compliance with timeshare legislation in St. Maarten;

* Introduce timeshare licence legislation to effectively enforce compliance with the existing legislation and expand timeshare consumer protection;

* Timeshare Contracts regarding properties located in St. Maarten must be made subject to St. Maarten law;

* Analyse the contracts of the existing timesharing resorts in St. Maarten and assess the timeshare owners’ risk exposure;

* Introduce sanctions for non-compliance with timeshare legislation and acts in contravention of the conditions of timeshare licences to be issued;

* Install a committee of experts that in any case must comprise an experienced legislation lawyer with the tasks to make recommendations regarding effectively enforcing the existing timeshare consumer protection rules and to prepare additional legislation to protect timeshare buyers and timeshare owners.

“Existing timeshare consumer protection legislation goes a long way, but it does not go far enough. Its application and enforcement require more governmental involvement and control. Without the right tools in the form of additional consumer protection and a properly functioning system of checks and balances in place our government will not be in a position to act decisively act and take appropriate measures to prevent a crisis in our timeshare industry or mitigate the effects thereof,” De Weever said.

He thanked all members of Parliament for burying political differences, voting unanimously and working in the best interest of the people of St. Maarten.