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Published On: Wed, Apr 19th, 2017

Government priorities remain opaque

GREAT BAY – The Council of Ministers began yesterday morning with the presentation of its governing program 2016-2020 to the Central Committee of Parliament. Today reported extensively about the contents of the program on March 28. The program – under the umbrella of the United Democratic Alliance, a rather clever combination of the names of the coalition partners’ party names – contains around 130 initiatives for the governing period until 2020. Yesterday’s meeting was designed to shed some light on the government’s priorities but they remain at best opaque.

After a general introduction by Minister of General Affairs William Marlin, the Ministers of Finance, Richard Gibson, Justice, Rafael Boasman, Education, Silveria Jacobs and Public Health, Emil Lee, went over the objectives for their respective ministries.

During a nearly four hour-long presentation, MPs got to hear a lot of platitudes, sprinkled here and there with some interesting and previously unknown information.

“Six governments in six years does not bode well for stability and cannot lead to prosperity,” Minister Marlin said. “The three parties in this coalition have vowed to stay together until 2020; they are all committed. The vision of the United Democratic Alliance is to provide inspired leadership.”

Marlin described the governing program as “a high level document with strategic objectives” and as “a roadmap for the journey towards prosperity.”

The government aims to lower its costs of operation, to eliminate red tape and to engage the public in its work. To get the flow of information going, the government will use platforms like Facebook, YouTube and the government website.

And there is more, Marlin announced: “Within the next couple of days the government radio will be launched. It will replay the weekly press briefings, meetings of Parliament and broadcast infomercials 24/7. It will also feature original St. Maarten music. Preparations for a government TV station are underway.”

The five strategic objectives in the governing program are nation building and good governance, sound financial management, public safety, socio-economic and environmental sustainability and enhanced quality of life.

Marlin gave an extensive overview of the details contained in the program, before Finance Minister Richard Gibson took the floor to address issues particular to his ministry.

Not surprisingly, the objectives of the finance ministry remain what they have been ever since Gibson became a minister: “The main focus is on sound financial management. Money should be spent wisely and benefit the interests of the citizens.”

This year the completion of the national accountability ordinance is on schedule under the flag of good governance. The finance ministry will also embark on projects to improve public services. The priorities are improvement of the tax office, fiscal policy and tax compliance.

The ministry is engaged in talks with financial supervisor Cft about a loan for the construction of a new building that will house the tax department and the receiver’s office under one roof. “This will not be completed in 2017, but the construction will begin,” the minister said.

Minister Gibson also intends to address weaknesses within the tax department by, among others, filling critical positions and offering training programs to the personnel.

“Compliance is at the lowest point as we speak,” he said, adding that IT-problems have caused delays that ‘affect numerous plans and timelines.”

The IT-system must be able to withstand virus attacks and hacking activities. “And we have to make sure that our data are secure. Right now several programs have been not operational for several weeks.”

The ministry will also embark on a program to assist citizens with tax issues and to keep them informed, also about regulations that could benefit them.

There is a problem though: “The database of the tax department is corrupted and that has to be cleaned up. Wrong data lead to wrong decisions and accurate data are also important for our international obligations, like the Fatca (Foreign account tax compliance act). Not complying with those regulations bring the risk of being black-listed.’

Minister Gibson furthermore wants to encourage a tax compliance culture. “At the moment we have the opposite,” he said. “Taxes are our lifeline. Without it we are unable to provide the services citizens require.”

Tax reform will bring lower income and profit taxes and a shift towards indirect taxes, the minister said. Broadening the tax base and closing tax loopholes are also projects on the agenda for this year. What also needs fixing are the country’s financial statements that have come up to now with qualified statements from accountants. Minister Gibson also works on bringing the country’s balance sheet back to a credible status, based on recommendations from the General Audit Chamber.

Justice Minister Rafael Boasman told Parliament that his ministry’s top priority is to keep the country safe, but he also made clear that the department cannot do this alone: “Every citizen has a role to play in crime prevention.”

The idea that the justice department is somewhat secretive is something that spooks people, Boasman said. Therefore, the ministry intends to provide information about its activities online.

Training, finalizing the structure and curriculum of the Justice Academy also has the attention. The ministry seeks certification for its courses from the ministry of education and to train not only police officers and other judicial chain personnel but also personnel of private security companies.

The latter initiative is part of a drive to generate more revenue by imposing certification upon private security companies and having them train for these certifications at the Justice Academy.

“We are exploring possibilities within the general police ordinance, but we have to tread carefully,’ Minister Boasman said. “There are a lot of events on a weekly basis that require police assistance and road closures. Somehow we have to look at how to generate funds from this.”

The ministry also wants to enhance the program of detaining inmates elsewhere in the kingdom to alleviate capacity issues at the Pointe Blanche prison. Privacy legislation and legislation to combat cyber-crime is in the works and will come to Parliament this year.

Closer ties with law enforcement on the French side, the implementation of feasible aspects of the plans of approach for the police and the prison and tackling human trafficking are also high on the list of priorities.

The first phase of the camera surveillance project has begun and preparations for the second phase are underway.

Minister Boasman also wants to keep youngsters who have committed minor crimes as much as possible out of jail. “Locking them up only makes things worse,” he said. He asked for the cooperation of the business community for the execution of a community service program.

In terms of capital investments the expansion and renovation of the prison tops the list, followed by the second phase of the camera project, renewal of the police car fleet, the justice academy and the hospitium in Simpson Bay.

Minister Silveria Jacobs (Education, culture, Youth and sports) told Parliament that the educational care center at the renovated Charles Leopold Bell School in Cole Bay will start in September with the first batch of sixteen students.

She warned against the blue whale Challenge, an online game that pushed participants to suicide, but noted that there is already a positive counterforce, named the pink whale challenge. The minister urged parents to supervise their children’s internet use.

Public Health Minister Emil Lee said that the country needs courage to bring about change. “Some do not want change, so we need a shared vision. My ministry is the last resort for the vulnerable among us.”

Lee said that the complaints coming his way – about the effect of dump fires, septic water in yards and on public roads and mosquito breeding – often have their solutions with other ministries, making cooperation between the departments essential.

“We live in a complicated system and too many people are falling through the cracks,” he noted with a reference to people with pre-existing health conditions, bus drivers and undocumented people.

The minister said that prescription medication is expensive compared to other places. “Someone is making money from the way the system is organized and change will therefore meet with resistance,” he said.

The minister said that, in terms of good healthcare, everything begins with the construction of the new hospital. The project is back on track. For financing pension fund APS and insurer SZV in combination with private institutions are in the picture, though Lee prefers financing through a loan the Dutch government has to subscribe to, because the favorable interest rate could save the country 4 to 5 million guilders a year.

“We are looking at improving the quality of healthcare, but the hospital is just a building,” he noted. “The preferred option is however to keep the population healthy.”

The ministry is researching options to expand the Gebe relief program for senior citizen to other citizens in need. In the field of labor reform, Minister Lee wants a more flexible labor market that is beneficial to employers and employees.

The minister said that the country should not have any employment issues because there are enough jobs. “We have compliance issues,” he added. “They impact our tax revenue. During a field trip we found issues of gross non-compliance and in some cases companies knew that the compliance team was coming.”

The minister said that unemployment plays especially among those with a lesser education.

“Our job is to create the conditions for employment, not to hand out jobs,” he said. With the website opportunity.sx the ministry aims to bring students back home to suitable jobs.

The meeting will continue this afternoon with presentations from the other cabinet members.