The committee of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication will meet in a session on February 6, 2019.
The committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday at 11.00 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport, and Telecommunication (TEATT) will be present for this meeting.
The agenda points are:
1. Confirmation of decision lists previous TEATT Committee meetings.
2. An update from the Port St. Maarten on some crucial indicators since Irma, and projection going forward:
a. Passengers statistics and Cruise Ship Arrivals to date, and projections going forward.
b. Cargo imports and exports to date, and projections going forward.
c. Marketing plans by the harbor to improve consumer perspective of St. Maarten.
d. Where does St. Maarten rank in Cruise reviews since Irma?
e. Tendering services and the distribution of passengers in Philipsburg.
f. What are the major challenges being faced by the harbor?
g. Any legislative hurdles that the members of parliament should be aware of?
h. Other important information the harbor would like to share with legislators and the public (IS/799/2017-2018 dated July 31, 2018).
3. Finalization of the St. Maarten Tourism Authority:
a. A discussion by the committee after having reviewed the first concept of the law of the St. Maarten Tourism Foundation.
b. The Minister’s plan going forward with the finalization of the St. Maarten Tourism Authority.
4. Tourism recovery policy plan from the Ministry of TEATT
The committee would like to hear from the minister
details as to what the ministry will do in the short, medium
and long term to promote the recovery of our tourism
product. A presentation on this is being requested, feedback
will be given, and a summary of the presentation sent to the
central committee (IS/801/2017-2018 dated July 31, 2018).
5. The current state of the civil aviation authority:
a. Current staffing and Budget, and adjustment needed in 2019 for proper functioning.
b. Location since the previous building was destroyed by Irma.
c. Concrete plan on how the island will get back to cat 1 FAA and prevent dropping to cat 3.
d. Upcoming Preliminary Audit for ICAO: List of previous findings and measure to correct findings in preparation for Audit.
e. Concerns regarding the operations of foreign carriers under local AOC’s: how is this being regulated?
f. Revenue Generating measures by the department including fees and aircraft registration.
g. Pending Bi-Laterals and air traffic agreements.
6. US Pre Clearance: Clarity on reports that this may be in jeopardy due to lack of information (IS/802/2017-2018 dated July 31, 2018).
7. Preliminary investigation into data collection by the government of St. Maarten:
a. Labor Data Collection
b. Economic indicators
c. Import/Export
d. GDP
e. Tourism indicators
f. Banking sector data
g. The Minister’s plans for implementation of ASACUDA Does the department of Statistics have sufficient resources and funding to carry out its tasks? (IS/803/2017-2018 dated July 31, 2018)
Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations.
The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.
The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 115, via SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.sxmparliament.org, www.pearlfmradio.sx and Parliament’s Facebook page: Parliament of Sint Maarten.