PHILIPSBURG:—- Former Minister of Finance and current MP Ardwell Irion (NA) voted against the ENNIA Outline Agreement on October 8, 2024, alleging that he was “uncertain” over whether Curaçao would follow suit. However, the Parliament of Curaçao unanimously approved the Agreement the next day.
Finance Minister Marinka Gumbs noted that MP Irion, who had signed the original Outline Agreement, appears to have been playing “petty politics” with an issue of such grave importance for St. Maarten.
“It is incomprehensible to me that someone who had sidelined Parliament when he was Minister of Finance to sign an Agreement that was so blatantly not in the interest of St. Maarten would now, as a member of the same Parliament he had shunned, vote against an improved version of the Agreement he negotiated,” said Minister Gumbs.
Five MPs—Ardwell Irion (NA), Ludmila de Weever (PFP), Omar Ottley (UPP), Francisco Lacroes (UPP), and Daryl York (NA)—voted against the ENNIA solution renegotiated by Minister Gumbs, despite pressure to secure parliamentary approval before the August 19, 2024, snap elections.
“Isn’t it ironic that Curacao’s Parliament approved the same solution which we on St. Maarten fought so hard for, while five of our own MPs voted against it?” Minister Gumbs asked rhetorically.
“The fact of the matter is that they voted against St. Maarten saving Nafl. 37 million over the period of the Agreement. They voted against St. Maarten having a matching right for the purchase of Mullet Bay, considered by many a patrimony of the people, if and when this property goes up for sale. In short, they voted against the best interests of the people of St. Maarten,” said the Minister.
Irion had said in defending the ENNIA Agreement, which he had signed, that he has no “emotional attachment” to Mullet Bay like the generation before him.
“This is probably why he didn’t care about securing the property for future generations of St. Maarteners,” said Minister Gumbs.
The Dutch government had made a viable solution to the ENNIA saga a condition for St. Maarten to enjoy a lower interest rate for the COVID-19 loans. With this Agreement now, the interest rate for the loans will be 2.9% instead of the 6.8% that would have been charged without the Outline Agreement.
“This reduced interest rate will generate savings of 180 million guilders over the next 15 years on interest payments, freeing resources for other critical needs,” said Minister Gumbs.
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