Govt lacks responsibility,
discipline, says Gracita
PHILIPSBURG--People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA) Councilwoman Gracita Arrindell insisted on Monday that fiscal discipline and responsibility was still at stake as it concerned the new Government Administration Building.
Arrindell suggested that it was unfair to burden the people and the island’s future generations with the heavy costs associated with the proposed expansion of the new government building.
She said that in the end, the taxpayer would pay double the cost of the initial investment of US $16.73 million due to interest cost which has to be over a period of 16 years.
“We are confronted with a proposal that has serious financial consequences for our coffers. We still don’t know the final sum which will be added to our total debt when we achieve separate status,” she said.
She also suggested that if the people really had the opportunity to choose between having the new building, or have a few good new schools with staff and equipment or a well-funded St. Maarten Medical Centre they would not opt for the building.
Arrindell said that while she could agree that constructing a new office building was a “desirable objective” as St. Maarten is moving closer to a new constitutional status, the question was whether the Executive Council had a “clue” about the required information to make a decision of this magnitude.
Arrindell said government knew or should have known since the 2000 referendum, or at least by 2003/2004, that St. Maarten would carry additional duties and functions and that subsequently it would need additional office space.
The governing Democratic Party (DP), in Arrindell’s opinion, on Monday tried to rush through the amendment to the project. At the time of the approval in December 2004, government did the same thing. She said that as a result of lack of preparation and analysis of future duties, the Island Council was faced with having to handle an addendum to the original proposal.
Arrindell also criticised Commissioner of Constitutional Affairs Sarah Wescot-Williams, who she accused of not taking sufficient action in the past years. She ridiculed the fact that almost seven years from the date of the referendum, government only recently entered into a contract with a consulting firm to analyse the federal employees functioning on St. Maarten. “Why didn’t the Commissioner execute this assignment earlier?” she asked.
Arrindell also wanted to know how come she was told during the recent 2007 budget debate that the new Government Administration Building would be completed in November 2007, while Commissioner Louie Laveist announced on Monday morning that the project wouldn’t conclude until February 2008. She said PPA had consistently been asking about this particular project. She posed 29 questions during Monday’s Island Council meeting.
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