Claire Guion-Firmin. (Photo Robert Luckock)
MARIGOT–Députée (MP) for St. Martin Saint-Barthélemy Claire Guion-Firmin, questioned the minister of the Economy and Finance in the National Assembly’s public session on Friday on the issue of a statistics bureau in St. Martin, something that she described as both “an emergency and a necessity” for a territory undergoing reconstruction.
The MP for the two Northern islands wants the Collectivité of St. Martin, which left the Institut National de la Statistique et des Études (INSEE) on January 1, 2008, to be able to benefit as soon as possible from high-quality statistical coverage.
“Essential data such as price index, foreign trade figures, illiteracy, infant mortality or poverty rates… all these are not known in St. Martin, and because of the absence of an INSEE branch, the territory has been, for more than ten years, in a blind spot of public policies,” Guion-Firmin stated. She also pointed out that this lack of statistics prevents the Collectivité, one of the Outermost Regions (OR) of the European Union (EU) from becoming the managing authority for European funds.
“These statistical deficiencies further penalise the community, which is in the process of reconstruction, in that they further complicate the analysis of the evolution of the economic, demographic, social, environmental in St. Martin,” she added
The Députée therefore asked the government to create an INSEE branch in St. Martin, “or, at the very least, to strengthen the staff of INSEE Guadeloupe, with specific missions and agents dedicated to St. Martin.
The Secretary of State for the Finance Ministry (Bercy) in reply acknowledged that there was “room for improvement”.
“INSEE proposes to give priority to expert work in order to determine whether the sources of information that can be mobilised today would allow an annual and robust production of a GDP index for St. Martin,” said Mounir Mahjoubi. He said the subject is complex because today, the small quantity and poor quality of data do not guarantee this annual capacity.
“In addition, creation of an INSEE branch in St. Martin is not envisaged by the government, which also considers the INSEE Interregional Directorate for the French West Indies and French Guiana, which currently deals with St. Martin, is sufficiently equipped,” he said.
Guion-Firmin was not satisfied with this rejection but vowed nevertheless to continue fighting for “this crucial subject for St. Martin”.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/83233-claire-guion-firmin-lobbies-for-statistics-bureau-in-st-martin
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