PHILIPSBURG–National Alliance (NA) leader Member of Parliament Silveria Jacobs has expressed disappointment about the scheduling and later postponement of the Central Committee meeting to handle a draft amendment to the 2018 budget and the draft 2019 budget.
The meeting was scheduled for Thursday, but was postponed by Parliament Chairwoman Sarah Wescot-Williams late Wednesday afternoon. The postponement was on request of Finance Minister Perry Geerlings and is related to the ongoing discussions with the Dutch government about deviation from Article 25 of the Temporary Kingdom Law on Financial Supervision. The deviation will allow the country to have an unbalanced budget.
Calling the process “entirely disappointing,” Jacobs said it was “blatant disrespect” for Parliament. “It appears to be that Parliament is here to serve government and not that Parliament holds government accountable to live up to its obligations to the people,” said Jacobs.
She pointed out in a press statement issued late Thursday night that both documents were in “a highly illegible state in hard copy” and delivered “in the midst of a busy meeting week last week.” The documents were received by MPs digitally on November 23.
Jacobs sent a letter to Wescot-Williams on November 27 highlighting the challenges with the documents, the limited timed to review all and querying missing documents. A similar letter also requesting a postponement of the budget handling was sent by fellow MP Rolando Brison of United St. Maarten Party.
On November 28, Jacobs said even more documentation was provided to MPs along with a message from Wescot-Williams that the meeting might be postponed on the minister’s request. Confirmation of postponement was received later that day from Geerlings who was off-island.
“Parliament should be allotted enough time to prepare for the budget debates and not just act like a rubber stamp … or does this government, with the support of the eight in Parliament, have something to hide?” queried Jacobs.
“The budget discussions are the most intense and some of the most important meetings of Parliament and come as the highlight of the year whereby Parliament can hold government accountable across the board for the policies, spending and collecting of the country’s funds in an effective and efficient manner.”
The Council of Ministers is to go on recess from December 24 until January 8, 2019. The civil service, according to Jacobs, has been informed that all documents requiring decisions have to be dealt with by December 18 at the latest.
That timeline, she said, “came as a surprise, appears irresponsible and could be one of the reasons that government is speeding up the process. It, however, leaves one to wonder: How indeed is this country running?”
She queried whether civil servants who have been working straight through since Hurricane Irma will also get a Christmas break or if this will not be allowed. The civil service already has understaffed departments that place a heavier burden on those still working and this increases chances for burnout, said Jacobs.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/83174-jacobs-disappointed-about-handling-of-budget-meeting
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