Parliament meets in
St. Maarten this week
~ Meetings to be live on TV ~
COLE BAY--Parliament meets in St. Maarten this week for the first time this parliamentary year. Its packed agenda includes participating in the St. Martin/St. Maarten Day celebrations Tuesday and a meeting with French-side President Franz Gumbs Thursday to discuss how the constitutional transition was for the prior municipality that became a Collectivité of France more than a year ago.
Transport and Communications Minister Maurice Adriaens will address the Central Committee on ambulance flights between the islands in accordance with international aviation regulations and the safety and logistics of this service, in Dr. A.C. Wathey Legislative Hall at 2:00pm Monday.
Parliamentarian G.C. Liqui-Lung of PAR requested this meeting. The tragic helicopter crash more than three weeks ago that claimed the lives of two persons on a mercy mission to Saba will also be discussed.
Outlining the week’s agenda at a press conference in Port de Plaisance, Parliament President Pedro Atacho said Sunday that all Central Committee meetings would be aired live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 15. The Government Information Service (GIS) arranged this conference.
All parliamentarians will take part in the annual St. Martin/St. Maarten Day celebrations on the French side Tuesday. The Dutch and French sides alternate the hosting of the celebrations each year. French-side President Franz Gumbs invited the Dutch Parliament to these events.
Parliament’s Education and Public Health Committee will meet Wednesday morning to evaluate its work activities and plan for the new parliamentary year. This will be followed by a Central Committee meeting at 2:00pm with Central Bank representatives on the current financial and monetary development of the Netherlands Antilles. This meeting is in preparation for the Budget 2009 debate planned for the first week of December.
Later in the afternoon, the Kingdom Affairs Committee will continue its preparations for the tri-meeting with the Dutch and Aruban parliamentarians slated for Aruba in January, 2009.
Parliamentarians will travel to the French side Thursday to meet with President Gumbs at 9:30am. Atacho said, “We hope to receive information on status, structure, acquired authority, representation in the French structure and experience.” It was stated that this information would be helpful to the parliamentarians in light of the constitutional change process ongoing in the Netherlands Antilles.
The Central Committee will hear from Social Insurance Bank SVB representatives at 3:00pm about the discrepancy in SVB’s coverage policy between the Windward Islands and Bonaire. According to Parliamentarians J.D. Spencer, Ray Hassell, Frans Richardson, P.J. Kroon, D.E. Puriel and Erno Labega, who requested the meeting, there is a discrepancy between the islands in the compensation for certain medical treatments and in the number of medical consultations.
Constitutional Affairs Minister Roland Duncan will discuss with the Central Committee the latest developments, especially in light of the December 14 Round Table Conference between the Dutch and Island Governments, on Friday at 9:00am. Parliamentarian William Marlin requested the agenda point. Following this, at 2:00pm, Justice Minister David Dick will report on the planned upgrade of the Police Force in the Windward Islands, an agenda point also requested by Marlin.
When asked how St. Maarten could make substantial changes to the justice system, a responsibility of the Justice Minister, to meet the demands of the Dutch Second Chamber or jeopardise country status, Atacho said that while this was true, there were developments pertaining to proper governance and integrity that were important to the Dutch that needed to be dealt with on an island level.
