Sarah wants to sit down and
compare notes with Duncan
PHILIPSBURG--Constitutional Affairs Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams wants to sit down with Constitutional Affairs Minister Roland Duncan and compare notes regarding the transfer of authorities to the island territory of St. Maarten.
She said that after taking notice of recent comments made by the Minister she had come to the conclusion that it was “extremely urgent” that they sit down and compare notes.
She believes Duncan did not have all relevant information at hand regarding the process of transferring authorities. She said that if, according to the Minister, St. Maarten should make its wishes known for certain authorities to be transferred to the islands, then it was a question why the transfer of the Inspectorate of Taxes, ADC, Winair and the Labour Office, as indicated by the Central Government five to six years ago, still hadn’t been completed.
“The point of departure of St. Maarten is that all Central Government authorities should be transferred to the island. There are areas that the Central Government ordered to be transferred to the Island Government, but it still hasn’t taken place due to technical excuses about international laws,” she said. The first action for Duncan should be to sit with partners and ask what happened with the transfers, Wescot-Williams said.
Duncan said last Sunday that if the islands wanted to receive authority over certain federal entities, they should send formal proposals to that effect. He said he was supportive of transferring certain authorities to the island territories, but the islands themselves had to become more proactive in the process and make formal requests on paper.
Then, he added, meetings could be arranged between the island territories and the Central Government. In those meetings, the islands will have to indicate how they intend to carry the cost of the newly acquired responsibilities.
Duncan was responding to earlier comments made by Wescot-Williams, who said during the Executive Council press briefing last week Wednesday that the Council of Ministers should reach a clear understanding about the transfer of duties to the island territories.
Wescot-Williams said she agreed with Duncan’s earlier statement that the constitutional process shouldn’t stop just because the Netherlands was forming a new government and no follow-up Round Table Conference (RTC) had been organised yet. She said she hoped Duncan could convince the other cabinet members to cooperate.
Duncan said in response on Sunday that until now he hadn’t received any formal request from the island(s) to discuss transfer of authorities/entities. He emphasised that the Central Government was facilitator and didn’t take the lead. But he acknowledged that he had a task in this matter.
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