MP Heyliger Marten seeks written update/overview and plan of action for COHO trajectory | SOUALIGA NEWSDAY

SINT MAARTEN (PHILIPSBURG) – Member of Parliament (MP) Grisha Heyliger Marten has sent a letter to the Prime Minister with respect to the Caribbean Body for Reform and Development (COHO) trajectory, constitutional reform, and capacity building.

The letter dated April 21^st reads as follows: “With much interest, I have taken note of the answers provided by you to the questions asked during the closed-door technical briefing on the draft COHO law on April 8th, 2022. I also followed the deliberations on the draft COHO law during the Central Committee meeting of April 11th, 2022, and your presentation based on which these deliberations took place.

“Based on the above, having reviewed the entire package of the current draft law, the input from several Dutch Caribbean experts, and taking into account the information and developments to which I referred in my letter to you dated March 29th, 2022, registered under IS/721/21-22, I am now even more convinced that the draft COHO law cannot and should not be supported by the Parliament of Sint Maarten.

“From what I have been able to determine, it is still not in full compliance with all local, Kingdom, and international laws, and will not be beneficial to Sint Maarten and its people either. In this regard, I also refer to the meeting of April 11th, 2022, during which you indicated that, seeing the progress with the reforms which Sint Maarten has decided to implement, there is no need to establish the COHO.

“During said meeting, you also suggested how Parliament can further proceed with the trajectory, now that the Government of Sint Maarten has done all that it should and could have done based on its mandate.

“Furthermore, seeing the many ongoing scandals within the Dutch State and its executing agencies which are costing the Dutch taxpayers billions of Euro's, many of which cannot be accounted for, victimizes thousands of innocent Dutch citizens, and has led to a number parliamentary inquiries, I don't believe that the Dutch State is in the position to implement and staff a COHO that will function in the best interest of Sint Maarten.

“In this respect, I refer to the petitions filed with the "Special Rapporteur" and "Working Group" as well as the CERD-recommendations of August 25th, 2021. During your presentation on April 11th, 2022, you outlined the many challenges you encountered in your dealings with the Dutch Government in terms of the latter being able to overrule you based on its (perceived) superior (legal) status within the Dutch Kingdom.

“The only manner in which this situation can be adequately addressed is for Sint Maarten to achieve said full-measure of self-government through constitutional reform. I was therefore unpleasantly surprised at your response to MP Sarah-Wescot-Williams' question regarding the status of the working group based on the "de Graaf" and "van Raak" motions.

“Seeing your experiences with the Dutch Government during your negotiations the past years, the mandate of the working group(s) based on the two motions, and your desire to "mend the relationships", I would have expected a more pro-active approach from the Government of Sint Maarten with regards to getting the working groups going.

“In this respect, I am hereby requesting you to provide Parliament with a written update/overview and plan of action for that trajectory since the names of the members representing Sint Maarten were submitted to the Dutch Government over a year ago. With regards to "relationship-mending" I believe that this alone, however you define it, is not sufficient. And even if this was to be achieved, it will still not address the democratic deficit and the resulting lacking of a full measure of self-government.

“Having consulted with different international experts in the field of development cooperation, capacity building, and constitutional reform during the recent Parliamentary meetings in Panama and Argentina, I am also now even more convinced that the only way for Sint Maarten to achieve its development objectives and ambitions is by ensuring true capacity building outside of the Kingdom of the Netherlands based on a full measure of self-government.

“I therefore look forward to the answers to my questions of March 29th, 2022, at your earliest convenience. As I pointed out in my letter, I believe that the answers to these questions will allow the Parliament to formulate its position(s) on moving forward with regards to the COHO and other related matters,” the correspondence from MP Grisha Heyliger Marten to the Prime Minister.