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Published On: Sat, Sep 21st, 2019

MP Peterson: “Goal accomplished”; Parliament meeting with Knops set for Wednesday

MP Claude Chacho Peterson - Vice Chair of Parliament

PHILIPSBURG –MP Claude ‘Chacho’ Peterson confirms that a meeting of Parliament has been convened for Wednesday, September 25th, 2019, with Dutch State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations, Raymond Knops. “Goal accomplished!” stated Peterson.

On Tuesday, September 17, MP Peterson, faction leader for the St. Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) in Parliament, submitted a letter to Parliament requesting that a meeting be convened with Dutch State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations, Raymond Knops. The purpose of the meeting is to address a number of issues.

This meeting request was supported by Independent Member of Parliament Franklin Meyers and United Democrats Member of Parliament Jules James. The submitted letter is incoming document number IS/035/2019-2020 dated September 17, 2019.

Raymond Knops - FacebookOn Thursday, September 19, a convocation for a Central Committee meeting has been sent to all members of Parliament. The meeting is to be held on Wednesday, September 25, from 10 to 11am in the Legislative Hall of the Parliament building on the Wilhelminastraat in Philipsburg. The State Secretary of Interior Affair and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops will be present for this meeting. The State Secretary will start by giving some introduction remarks after which members of Parliament have the opportunity to make remarks and pose questions. In connection with the limited available time of the State Secretary, the Chairperson has set the total speaking time for each MP at 3 minutes.

The agenda points for this scheduled Central Committee meeting are:

– Liquidity support to St. Maarten; specifically the amounts received thus far and the amounts to be received and their conditions and timelines;

– Evaluation of the performance of the Trust Fund and its projects, specifically but not limited to the use, pace, results, financials (use and balance), World Bank, National Recovery Program Bureau.

A third agenda point that was proposed in the letter signed by the three members of the governing coalition, regarding “Kingdom Relations, focused on the current views on the relationship between St. Maarten and the Netherlands, the status of and views on the dispute regulation, and the aspects to be tackled going forward” notably has been dropped. According to Peterson this was due to the time constraints of the State Secretary.

The State Secretary is scheduled to visit the Windward Islands starting on Sunday, September 22, 2019. On Monday he is scheduled to be in St. Eustatius for meetings, among others, a town hall with the residents of the island. On Tuesday, the State Secretary will visit Saba, after which he is scheduled to fly back to St. Maarten, where he will be visiting a number of projects financed by the Trust Fund. The State Secretary is scheduled to fly back to the Netherlands on Wednesday afternoon.

When asked if he was contented that the meeting was able to be convened with Knops on such short notice so that finally the MPs and the people of St. Maarten can get information on the topics to be addressed, MP Peterson said “I trust that all MPs including the Opposition MPs who have been very vocal about the State Secretary over the past year will be present to pose their questions or concerns.”

 

Convocation AAAZJ 2019-2020 Opr CC04 WED 25sept2019 10.00 uur

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Related links:
Convocation letter Central Committee meeting with State Secretary Knops
MP Claude ‘Chacho’ Peterson requests meeting to be convened with State Secretary Knops
Letter MP Peterson requesting meeting to be convened with State Secretary Knops