Flabbergasted was the reaction of Island Councilman Roy Marlin on the statement made by the leader of Government Commissioner William Marlin on the matter of the DP faction in the Island Council asking questions.
The Commissioner when in opposition lived by the motto the people have a right to know. Or do the people only have a right to know when the NA is in opposition and when they are in government then the people have no rights. On the matter of the cooperation kingdom law that was discussed in the central committee meeting of Thursday, several administrative areas will require a plan of approach after 10/10/10. One such area mentioned is the land registry foundation (Cadastre). In my opinion this responsibility after being transferred from the Central Government to the Island Territory in 1998, is today functioning optimally and the question asked for which answers should be given is why the land registry foundation? The Democratic Party leader sent several questions in writing prior to the meeting of Thursday and again promises that the information will be provided before the Island Council meeting to discuss this issue. It is hard for me to understand the statement by the Commissioner "Giving information is not an issue, but the piling on of more and more questions after government has
provided answers does not bode well for St. Maarten to be prepared for its new tasks ". The Democratic Party would not be asking questions if information is provided by government. We are still to receive information on many outstanding issues among which the report that the Commissioner of Finance claimed he had to justify the increase income for the budget year 2010.
Another statement by the Commissioner "The draft constitution has been around for more than
eight years and all parties in the Island Council are aware of its contents, except for the changes made recently by the Vetting Committee, so there is no need to ask 100 questions." What is the Commissioner implying with this statement? That the DP faction should rubber stamp the constitution for future country St. Maarten. The Commissioner charged with Constitutional Affairs should have been out having public hearings to involve the community at large on the contents of the constitution. In the absence of these public hearings the Democratic Party will definitely make sure that when this is debated in the Island Council that sufficient information is provided by government to bring about awareness on the constitution. The Commissioner of Constitutional Affairs of Curacao Ms Zita Leito is under the same time pressure, but she already started involving the people and the opposition in the discussions on the constitution for country Curacao, we are still to start these discussions. As stated during the meeting on Thursday by the Democratic Party faction, we are prepared to meet on Saturday or Sunday, morning or evening to move the process forward but we will not allow ourselves to be railroaded by the Commissioner of Constitutional Affairs into handling important matters just because of the incompetence of the Executive Council to properly prepare these prior to 10/10/10. The statement of today by the leader of Government Commissioner William Marlin, while toned down somewhat in comparison with one he made on the floor of the Island Council some time back in essence remains the same. Shut up and go home. Don’t ask any questions.
Island Council Member
Roy R. Marlin