Grisha calls out Presidium and Council of Ministers St Maarten
Grisha calls out Presidium and Council of Ministers
In a press statement released on Sunday afternoon, MP Grisha Heyliger-Marten expressed concern for both the Presidium of Parliament and members of the Council of Ministers for not carrying out their respective duties adequately.
The first example cited by Heyliger-Marten is the urgent public meeting regarding TelEm, which started on November 7th, 2022. The topics were the SOAB report, the complaints of the union regarding the CEO, and the status of the Fiber-To-The-Home project.
“We are now in May, so seven months later, and this urgent meeting is far from being completed. In the meantime, the issues have not been resolved or addressed by the Prime Minister. She said that this behavior displays a lack of respect for Parliament and its responsibility to the people, and the lack of concern for the TELEM workers.
A second example mentioned by Heyliger-Marten is the Urgent Public meeting with the Minister of Justice for a discussion regarding the flow and managing of the inmates at the Point Blanche Prison which was requested on January 19th, 2023. This meeting was called on January 25th, 2023 and adjourned. Since then, an injunction was filed against the prison and the Minister has not been efficient enough to come back and give Parliament an update.
A letter was also sent to the Minister of Justice on November 7th, 2022, in which Heyliger-Marten asked for copies of the advice from the Department of Legal Affairs, the CCSU, and the Council of Advice regarding the legal positions of the justice workers. These documents have yet to be received by Parliament.
The continuation of Public Meeting number 10 which started on December 16th, 2022 is a forth example of the lack of performance of the Presidium and Council of Ministers”, Heyliger-Marten stated in her press release. A date for the continuation of this meeting is still pending, and only today, May 15th, 2023, were the remaining two thirds of the questions posed received by Parliament by e-mail.
“This dismal performance is unacceptable, and further proof that the Presidium and Council of Ministers are not able to deal with the business of the people in an adequate and transparent manner. With all the urgent and pending matters that the country is facing and needs to deal with, it is high time that this coalition Government gets its act together. They need to be more open and transparent, and communicate more with the people”, Heyliger-Marten concluded.