Louie says he is not
being treated equally
~ Still wants Boasman’s head ~
PHILIPSBURG--Labour and Social Affairs Commissioner Louie Laveist is lashing out at his colleagues in the Executive Council, charging them with ignoring his position as an equal member.
He has also publicly stated that he cannot work with Interim Director of the Island Government Labour Department Rafael Boasman, whom he called a Project Director on Tuesday.
Speaking to Radio Soualiga 99.9FM, an obviously irate Laveist said, “Let’s face it. Two man crab can’t live in the same hole.”
Laveist has submitted a proposal that Boasman be removed from the Labour Department and be re-assigned back to the Island Government Secretariat, because the work “he was sent to do has been completed.”
Laviest is also upset that money budgeted for his departments has been channelled to pay for scholarships, leaving him without financing to execute programmes and projects. He said the money had been taken without consultation and this had him very upset.
“I just feel that I’m an equal member of the Executive Council. I’ve asked my colleagues for support in dealing with the project manager at the Island Labour Department, who is acting as interim head,” Laveist said.
“No need for secrets anymore. The relationship is one where we can’t co-exist,” Laveist added.
According to reports, Laveist had a verbal agreement with his Executive Council colleagues that if he voted to reinstate Commissioner Maria Buncamper-Molanus, who had resigned some three months ago amidst a conflict-of-interest debacle, he would receive the green light for Boasman’s removal.
However, after the vote was cast and Buncamper-Molanus was reappointed as a commissioner, the deal for Boasman’s removal apparently fizzled, leaving Laveist out in the cold. Boasman reportedly has a long-standing close relationship with Buncamper-Molanus and served as her campaign manager during the last Island Council election.
Asked what his next move would be, considering that he feels unsupported by his colleagues, Laveist only said he was unhappy about the situation and was not the type “to play politics [with issues such as this] or to go around making threats.”
Laveist’s public airing of his issues with the Democratic Party is another in a string of internal conflicts plaguing the more than 50-year-old party founded by the late Dr. Claude Wathey and Clem Labega.
Commissioner Roy Marlin tendered his resignation during the last Island Council term after becoming frustrated with the lack of support from his colleagues. His resignation did not go far, because party leader Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams refused to accept it.
This was followed by the conflict of interest saga involving Buncamper-Molanus this year that sparked former commissioner and long-time member Franklin Meyers’ resignation from the party.
Noting all the party’s internal conflicts that have been occurring in the past years, opposition National Alliance leader William Marlin has repeatedly referred to the DP “as a house divided.”
Within the community, there has been increasing talk about Wescot-Williams’ ability to hold her fellow party members/commissioners in line. Some party members and even opposition supporters have been advocating for new party leadership.
Wathey’s grandson Commissioner Theo Heyliger is known to be interested in leading the party and had made this publicly known as far back as during the 2003 Island Council election.
