PHILIPSBURG--Several Members of Parliament (MPs) made it crystal clear on Monday that if the proposed Integrity Chamber stagnates the growth of the country and hampers St. Maarteners from prospering, the law to establish the chamber will not receive their support.

 

Chief among those speaking out about the draft law was coalition member MP Franklin Meyers (United People's (UP) party). He said it appeared now "independence is the only choice for us."

 

Discussion on the draft law to establish the Integrity Chamber, presented by the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet, wrapped up in the Central Committee of Parliament on Monday afternoon. The law was tabled on April 8 and discussion continued on April 10 before the conclusion yesterday. The draft will now go to a plenary session of Parliament for formal approval.

 

Meyers described the push St. Maarten has been getting from the Netherlands to implement strict checks as nothing short of a "colonial action." He "will not support" the law, as it is designed to "bring down our people" and is "a clear violation of our autonomy."

 

The push by the Dutch is "to reduce my people to begging them" and to "making St. Maarteners foreigners in their own country," said Meyers. "I will not cooperate with this legislation that will regress my people to slavery and colonialism."

 

Meyers referred to the integrity report carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers on behalf of the Dutch Government as "biased," because none of the people against whom accusations were levelled had been interviewed by the report compiler.

 

Like Meyers, MP Silvio Matser (UP) said the discussion really should be focused on the establishment of "an independence chamber" rather than an Integrity Chamber.

 

"We do not need another organisation. We need to reinforce the existing ones," said National Alliance (NA) MP George Pantophlet. The existing high councils of state – the Advisory Council, General Audit Chamber and Ombudsman Bureau – need to be "strengthened" to help with the country's challenges.

 

MP Silveria Jacobs (NA) called on government "to prove to us this chamber is needed" and to outline the strides made thus far in tackling integrity issues. "Integrity is being more transparent," she told Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs and Justice Minister Dennis Richardson who tabled the law.

 

MP Christophe Emmanuel (NA) said he would not substitute "one kind of colonialism for another." He pointed out that the country's laws obviously worked, as evident from the prosecution of several politicians and appointed government officials since the attainment of country status in October 2010.

 

MP William Marlin (NA) said it made "very little sense" to implement an Integrity Chamber "if we do not intend to police what we have." The same holds true if government "does not have proper policies and transparency procedures" to tackle integrity issues.

 

Independent MP Leona Marlin-Romeo called for a more "holistic" approach to tackling the country's integrity challenges, as she had done in the first round of debate on April 8. She supports the establishment of an Integrity Chamber, but not in a repressive form.

 

MP Maurice Lake (UP) is in favour of an Integrity Chamber established under the country's own guidelines and "run by independent professionals who understand our culture." The Chamber must "not shut out local professionals" and if St. Maarten will carry the cost of the Chamber, the country should have "the last say" in the way the Chamber is set up "to better serve our people and the national development of the country."

 

Independent MP Cornelius de Weever said there should be room for negotiation on the way forward with the law. He compared the establishment of the Chamber with the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT that oversees the country's budget. The Chamber will "change the political, cultural and moral perspective" of the country, he said.

 

Democratic Party MP Sarah Wescot-Williams reiterated her stance that an Integrity Chamber would not solve any of the country's challenges if Government paid no attention to "transparency and accountability."

 

MP Tamara Leonard said Parliament's sentiment on the draft law was "crystal clear." She called for changes to be made to the law before it is tabled in the plenary session of Parliament for ultimate approval. She said voting to establish the law should be postponed until all MPs agree with what it encapsulates.

 

Prior to the closure of the meeting, Justice Minister Richardson explained to MPs aspects of the draft law tabled by government, the general kingdom measure proposed by the Dutch Government and the "compromise proposal" formulated by the two governments.

 

The Daily Herald