Member of the Island Council Of the Island Territory of St. Maarten Mrs.Maria Buncamper-Molanus, sent a letter addressed to the Executive Council regarding the request for economic information.
Maria Buncamper-Molanus
Member of the Island Council of the Island Territory of St. Maarten
Clem Labega Square
Philipsburg
St. Maarten January 7, 2010
Re: Economic Indicators
Island Councilmember Maria Buncamper-Molanus has directed a letter to the Executive Council requesting the government to provide economic indicators to the Island Council and the general public. Buncamper-Molanus states in her letter: "The media is once again reporting how difficult it is to obtain information regarding the economic activity on the island. This concern, as you are well aware, has been questioned by me on several occasions. During my tenure as Commissioner of Economic Affairs among others, the economic indicators were handled with the utmost importance and published as soon as they were verified and approved by the Executive Council, because it was understood how essential this information was and is for proper planning of sustainable economic development".
The Councilmember agrees that it may be somewhat challenging to obtain information from third parties, but taxes and other levies collected by the Island Government, the Federal Government and government owned companies should not be such a challenge and will take us a long way, in providing an impression of the performance of our economy. The former Commissioner of Economic Affairs continues to state that economic indicators are important for Government and all commercial entities, including banks, insurance companies as well as medical services, educational facilities, potential investors, etc.
"It is with a level of urgency that I submit this request to the Executive Council Of St. Maarten to gather the most recent relevant information and to report to the Island Council and the people of St. Maarten using statistics and professional interpretation of the those statistics. This is nothing new, the Department of Economic Policy and Research is familiar with this work thus it behooves the Executive Council to make use of the department’s knowledge and ability to carry out this essential task as has been done in the past" Council member Maria Buncamper-Molanus concludes.