Budget Primary Priority
The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams gave an explanation to the listening public on her weekly radio show One on One with the PM on Pearl FM regarding the first week of the new Council of Ministers.
"None of the Ministers are new to Government and have a background our expertise in Government and all of them Hit the Ground Running, which is important in terms of continuing Government especially after somewhat of a stagnation due to the political developments of the weeks past," commented the PM.
The Prime Minister explained that several logistical items were discussed during the first Council of Minister’s Meeting but that the Financial State of the Country was the foremost agenda point: "We dealt with several logistical issues and a few other matters but the heavy pending items will take place in the next coming weeks, however we did discuss the Budget and Minister of Finance the Honorable Martinus Hassink has been in constant and intense consultation with the CFT regarding going forward with the Budget. It is critical to the functioning of the Ministers and Ministries that the current financial limitations of Government are taken into consideration and discussions surrounding this and receiving updates in this regards are extremely important."
The PM also explained that Parliament has directed some central points for Government to handle including tax reform, the reorganization for the Ministry of Justice; the Social Development of St. Maarten, Electoral Reform and the National Health Insurance. "Especially regarding Electoral Reform and the National Health Insurance much work needs to be done. I would like to see some form of electoral reform in place by the next elections and to see significant steps forward in the National Health Insurance so that everyone on St. Maarten has basic medical coverage," concluded the Prime Minister.