On Monday morning the faction of the National Alliance submitted three requests to the chairlady of Parliament, Drs. Gracita Arrindell for meetings of Parliament and the Central Committee.
Leader of the National Alliance, MP William Marlin said on Tuesday that three members of the National Alliance faction Dr. Lloyd Richardson, Hyacinth Richardson and the leader Wiliam Marlin, signed the requests. In a letter dated Friday October 18th the MPs have asked the Chairlady of Parliament to convene an urgent meeting of Parliament to discuss the following: The decision of Government to establish a committee to conduct an investigation on integrity within the Government of St. Maarten.
The National Alliance MPs motivated their call for an urgent meeting by stating that clarity is needed on the matter of investigating integrity within the Government of St. Maarten. It was on September 30, 2013 that a Kingdom Decree was issued instructing the Governor of Sint Maarten to conduct an investigation into the integrity of the Government of Sint Maarten.
The MPs further state in their letter, that on several occasions over the past weeks, the Prime Minister publicly announced that the Government of Sint Maarten had agreed to have Transparency International conduct an integrity assessment into the Government of Sint Maarten.
And while this is going on, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson, announced at a press briefing last week Wednesday that the Government took a unanimous decision on Tuesday October 15th 2013, to establish its own committee to conduct an investigation on integrity within the Government of Sint Maarten.
According to the National Alliance MPs in their letter to the Chairlady of Parliament, this all seems rather confusing and contradictory and warrants an explanation and the public in general deserves clarity in this entire matter.
The three National Alliance MPs also requested in their letter, that the Minister of General Affairs, (Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams) be present in the meeting to provide clarity and to answer to questions from Members of Parliament.
The three national Alliance MPs further requested the chairlady to convene two Central Committee meetings. One of them is to deal with the recent development at the VDSM (Security Services of Sint Maarten) including the suspension of the Head of the VDSH, Mr. James Richardson.
For that meeting the MPs have also requested the presence of the Minister of General Affairs, Prime Minister Wescot-Williams. They have also requested copy of any report prepared by the S.O.A.B. or any other institution or instance on the functioning of the VDSM in general and in particular of the Head, Mr. James Richardson.
In a third letter to the Chairlady of Parliament, the National Alliance faction also requested the presence of the Minister of Youth, Education, Sports and Culture, Mr. Patricia Lourens-Philip to provide Parliament with information and to answer to questions from Members of Parliament on the position of the Council of Ministers on the proposal to establish the Sint Maarten Youth Football League.
Up to Tuesday afternoon no dates had been set yet for the meetings.
To: The Chairlady of Parliament,
Drs. Gracita Arrindell,
Parliament Building,
Wilhelminastraat 1,
Philipsburg – Sint Maarten.
Philipsburg, October 18th 2013.
The undersigned, members of Parliament hereby request for a Central Committee meeting to be convened with the following agenda point:
Recent developments at the VDSM (Security Services of St. Maarten) including the suspension of the Head of the VDSM, Mr. James Richardson.
We also hereby request the presence of the Minister of General Affairs at the meeting to provide information and to answer to questions from Members of Parliament.
We also hereby request a copy of any report prepared by the S.O.A.B. or any other institution or instance on the functioning of the VDSM in general and in particular of the Head, Mr. James Richardson.
Looking forward to the convening of this meeting, we remain,
Respectfully yours,
______________ _________________ _________________
William Marlin Lloyd Richardson Hyacinth Richardson
To: The Chairlady of Parliament,
Drs. Gracita Arrindell,
Parliament Building,
Wilhelminastraat 1,
Philipsburg – Sint Maarten.
Philipsburg, October 18th 2013.
The undersigned, members of Parliament hereby request for a Central Committee meeting to be convened with the following agenda point:
· The position of the Council of Ministers on the proposal to establish the St. Maarten Youth Football League.
We also hereby request the presence of the Minister of Youth, Education, Sports and Culture in order to provide Parliament with information and to answer questions from Members of Parliament.
Looking forward to the convening of this meeting, we remain,
Respectfully yours,
______________ _________________ _________________
William Marlin Lloyd Richardson Hyacinth Richardson
To: The Chairlady of Parliament,
Drs. Gracita Arrindell,
Parliament Building,
Wilhelminastraat 1,
Philipsburg – Sint Maarten.
Philipsburg, October 18th 2013.
The undersigned, members of Parliament hereby request for an urgent meeting of Parliament to be convened with the following agenda point:
The decision of Government to establish a committee to conduct an investigation on integrity within the Government of Sint Maarten.
The reason for requesting this meeting as an urgent meeting is the following. Clarity is needed on the matter of investigating integrity within the Government of Sint Maarten.
· On September 30th 2013 a Kingdom Decree was issued instructing the Governor of Sint Maarten to conduct an investigation into the integrity of the Government of Sint Maarten.
· On several occasions over the past weeks, the Prime Minister publicly announced that the Government of Sint Maarten has agreed to have Transparency International conduct an Integrity Assessment into the Government of Sint Maarten.
· And now on Tuesday October 15th 2013 the Government of Sint Maarten has taken a decision to establish its own committee to conduct an investigation on integrity within the Government of Sint Maarten.
This all seems rather confusing and contradictory and warrants an explanation and the public in general deserves clarity in this entire matter.
We also request the presence of the Minister of General Affairs in the meeting to provide clarity and information and to answer to questions from Members of Parliament.
Respectfully yours,
______________ _________________ _________________
William Marlin Lloyd Richardson Hyacinth Richardson