Written by: Denicio Richardson
Reading the article, published in the newspapers, yesterday (8 July 2014) in which the Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams indicates that she advised the Council of Ministers to comply with a judgment from the Court regarding me, is interesting.
Government continues to carry on with business as usual against me with upcoming court cases along with Postal Services St. Maarten NV (PSS), as it appears they believe strongly that the two (2) judges to date that have since reviewed the matter and ruled in my case separately and in my favor, are wrong. So I will still have to defend myself in the appellate court as I haven’t received word that these procedures are cancelled given the outcome of the previous injunction, which I won outright with God and my family by my side, which had similar grounds as the upcoming one.
The court of first instance on 3 June 2014, issued a verdict with immediate effect, and to my and the legal society astonishment, the government has refused to voluntarily comply with the verdict of the judiciary. Since the bailiff has formally delivered the verdict and put liens on the bank accounts of government, the bank has a legal obligation to withdraw the monies due from the bank account of government and pay it out to me, within a prescribed time period.
While Government continues with their legal cases against me, it continues to place unnecessary strain and burden on me and my family, both emotionally and financially. Continuing in Court with a representation by a lawyer as a consequence is not possible for me and it would be a pity to see that the Government continues to pay a lawyer with our hard earned tax monies to pursuit the matters at the Appellate court. While I do respect that everyone, even Government, has the right to make use of all the legal proceedings available, these should under no circumstances be abused. I consider the upcoming case(s) an abuse of legal proceedings and tax payers’ money.
The Prime Minister Wescot-Williams can have Government withdraw all the current pending cases, as a good gesture and bring an immediate end to this whole matter that should have never been from the start, instead of choosing to continue to appeal, which will only serve to complicate matters and costs yet more unnecessary tax payer guilders. Unfortunately, the press statement that was issued by her office does not give an indication that government is heading in the direction of bringing an end to this matter, at least not yet.
So in closing, I say stop this uncalled battle. I am just a young professional and son of the soil who came back home to help and give back to my country, which I love so much, that gave me an opportunity to educate myself.
