Published: 28 April 2021
PHILIPSBURG: - Independent MP Christophe Emmanuel on Tuesday said he is still awaiting answers from Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs to questions he submitted since February 18, 2021, on issues surrounding the St. Maarten Festival Village. Issues, he said, that has since raised many rumors of possible fraudulent actions, underhanded deals, and other suspicious acts being committed at the facility by the board and other third parties.
He said it would behoove the PM to provide the answers to some 40 questions that he submitted to begin to shed light on the operations of a facility that has dissolved into a public eyesore. Additionally, the MP is questioning why the board of the government foundation that runs the village has never been changed since the facility opened.
Published: 28 April 2021
PHILIPSBURG: - Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel has disclosed that the final choice for Head of the Section Repression at the Fire Department came down to a Dutchman and a qualified St. Maartener who has acted as the interim head of the same section on previous occasions. He said the Prime Minister of St. Maarten missed an opportunity to appoint a local professional and instead chose a Dutchman on the flawed premise of government being an “equal opportunity employer.”
The MP disclosed that after a two-week solicitation period, a total of four persons applied for the position, two from the Netherlands and two from St. Maarten. Two of the four moved on to the second round of interviews, one from St. Maarten and the other from the Netherlands.
Published: 27 April 2021
PHILIPSBURG: - Whether or not the Constitutional Court deems the ordinances regulating the cuts to employment benefits as unconstitutional, the initiative by the Ombudsman to submit the ordinances for review “once again echoes what I’ve stressed from day one; it is not just about salary, but all income and deprives people of the standard of living that they are due.”
So says MP Christophe Emmanuel in reaction to the news that the Ombudsman of St. Maarten, Gwendolien Mossel, after careful consideration, submitted the three national ordinances, in connection with cuts to the employment benefits of all (semi) public sector workers, to the Constitutional Court for review. Emmanuel said he is pleased with the move by the Ombudsman.