Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs
PHILIPSBURG–Members of Parliament (MPs) on Tuesday evening passed the temporary national ordinance for the standardisation of top incomes and adjustment of employment conditions at (semi-) public sector entities.
The ordinance is one of three that seek to enforce several conditions imposed by the Dutch government for the second tranche of liquidity support. The law passed on Tuesday evening puts a cap on the wage benefits of top-earners at (semi-) public sector entities at 130 per cent of the Prime Minister’s reduced salary, which has been dubbed the “Jacobs norm.”
The law was passed by 14 votes in favour and one vote against. All MPs voted for the motion except Independent MP Christophe Emmanuel, who voted against it.
In motivating his vote, United St. Maarten Party (US Party) MP Claudius “Toontje” Buncamper said that while he has reservations, he will vote his conscience because the country is bigger than he is and he took an oath to “put country above self.”
In a statement issued after the meeting, Emmanuel said he could never in good conscience support making people’s lives more difficult by passing laws that do exactly this. He said that while many, including fellow MPs, “are quick to dismiss his warnings and concerns,” the issues he raised red flags about since November 2020 are now coming to pass.
“I cannot in good conscience vote to infringe on people’s rights, salaries and benefits knowing that there is no substantiation for these cuts, financial or otherwise,” he said. “No matter how you fluff it up, no matter what amendments you add, it all boils down to cutting what people have worked hard for and infringing on their basic human rights.”
He said answers provided by government amounted more to “generalities and non-answers. There is no plan, there is no cohesion with unions, there is nothing. We are negatively affecting our people’s lives based on nothing.”
He said the behaviour of government is the same as what caused the Leona Romeo government to fall. “Back then it was good for us, but not now. Back then it was good for the elephants to argue and the grass suffer, but not now. This is the quintessential definition of a hypocrite. I rather be an honest sinner than a lying hypocrite.” Emmanuel said.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs responded to claims that she had been fibbing. “I take offence to being called a liar,” she said, adding that if she had been advised wrongly, she is never too big to step back and say she is sorry because she is human.
She went on to apologise for an unrelated matter, where she had indicated in the legislature, that something related to the Social Economic Council SER had left the government building and was at the Governor’s cabinet, only to find out later that it was not. Jacobs said she had “flipped” when she found out and she ensured herself that it made its way to the governor’s cabinet, where it is at the moment. “At times, human error comes into play, but we should not be too big to say that we don’t make mistakes.”
She said accepting the function as PM put her children in jeopardy as everyone around her has to change, but she noted that it is an “awesome responsibility” that she has undertaken. She said it was difficult presenting the laws, but she assured that government will continue to seek to be financially viable and aims to stand on its own.
Finance Minister Ardwell Irion assured in his opening remarks that “for 2021 we are not touching any salaries and we will try our best to continue that going forward.” Irion told MPs that government did not just “sit down” and “wait” to see if the Netherlands “will give us money. We did what we had to do and did what we could have done at that time.”
Based on the request from Parliament for him to look for other alternatives, these were pursued by looking at government-owned companies; selling shares and assets were looked at “and we saw how that played out publicly.”
“In addition to that, as a government, we looked at what we could have done now. Cutting costs in all areas, managing personnel, we looked at the excessive and probable abuse of phone bill situation we had for the last 10 years. We looked at the gas bond situation, the car situation and also put in automated systems for these situations.”
Irion said he does not think the measures instituted by the Dutch government were timely and they should not have been a blanket cut for all the countries in the Dutch Kingdom, as St. Maarten’s situation is different particularly after having faced Hurricane Irma in 2017. He said the negotiations could have been fairer and negotiations more understanding.
Over the past months he has noticed the danger facing St. Maarten when it comes to misleading and disinformation. He said that while suggestions such as taking all the funds from general pension fund APS and Social and Health Insurances SZV to “pay our people” sound nice, they are not practical as they would be irresponsible.
“I believe that at times like this, especially in this pandemic, we should not be playing with the emotions of our people. I believe that we should please, please, please, stop insulting the intelligence of our people. My people – the people of St. Maarten. They know better.”
At the start of the meeting Jacobs delivered an extensive presentation on the laws and related issues. A number of questions were posed by MPs in the two rounds of the debate.
The other two laws that are still to be handled are the Temporary National Ordinance on the amendment of the employment conditions of political authorities and the Temporary National Ordinance COVID-19 cuts on employment conditions for civil servants. These two laws will formalise a 12.5 per cent reduction in employment benefits for civil servants and those employed at (semi-) public sector entities and a 25 per cent reduction in the employment benefits of Ministers and MPs.
The meeting will continue at 9:30am today when the second of the three laws will be handled.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/law-capping-wage-benefits-of-top-earners-at-public-entities-passed
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