PHILIPSBURG–Finance Minister Richard Gibson Sr. is expected to deliver an outline of the 2018 budget to Parliament the day after the official opening of the 2017-2018 Parliamentary Year on September 12.
Parliament Chairwoman Sarah Wescot-Williams said on Monday she hopes to add this new feature to the start of the new parliamentary year. The other ministers will be called to the legislature the last week of September to defend their chapters in the draft budget. The draft is expected to arrive at Parliament by September 1, the date prescribed by the Constitution.
The closing of the 2016-2017 Parliamentary Year will be on Monday, September 11. The faction leaders of the National Alliance (NA), United St. Maarten Party (US Party), Democratic Party (DP) and the United People’s (UP) party will deliver “brief speeches” about the past year.
The formal opening of the second year of this parliamentary term on the following day will see Governor Eugene Holiday deliver the Government’s plan to Parliament for the coming year.
The (re)election of the chairperson and deputies will also be handled in one of the first sitting of Parliament following the opening of the year.
Wescot-Williams, speaking of the areas to be tackled in the new year, said emphasis will be placed on Parliament’s membership in the Latin American Parliament Parlatino. She told the press on Monday she intends to “make a start on taking up the laws” dealt with at the forum that is relevant to St. Maarten’s situation.
On the pending law to establish a timeshare authority for the country, Wescot-Williams said input has been received by St. Maarten Timeshare Association (SMTA). The Association has suggested that the existing business permit ordinance be reviewed to further regulate the sector.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/69002-budget-outline-for-directly-after-new-parliamentary-year-opens
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