MP Meyers goes independent; fate of two ministers in his hands

PHILIPSBURG — MP Franklin Meyers has declared himself an independent member of Parliament. A copy of his signed letter to the president of Parliament has not reached our news desk as yet. However, sources close to him have confirmed this to StMaartenNews.com. He will continue his discussions with the coalition as to how they can work together.

As it stands right now, we understand the discussions centers around the position of Minister of TEATT, Stuart Johnson, within government. Another minister whose head may also be on the chopping block is Minister of VROMI, Chris Wever. These two ministers (see photo below) will ultimately have to be sacrificed in order to keep the necessary support in Parliament intact in order to avoid elections.

The Minister of TEATT, Stuart Johnson, who was scheduled to travel on Tuesday to Europe to attend a cruise expo in Germany, was still on the island. “I never left the island at all at this time.” Johnson posted on our Facebook page after having attended the Council of Minister’s press briefing today Wednesday. We posed the question to Johnson asking why he hadn’t left the island as planned. We also asked the minister if he can tell us if he will still be traveling to Europe. We can imagine that the expensive business class ticket he had was already paid for and is most likely non-refundable. We assume the minister would not have travel insurance to cover the trip cancellation. Up until the publishing of this article, Johnson had not answered the questions posed to him.

Johnson’s position on alternative financing for the airport puts the position of the rest of the Council of Ministers, particularly that of the Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin and Minister of Finance, Perry Geerlings, at odds with the agreements already made with the Dutch, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the World Bank (WB) for the financing of the airport reconstruction. We will be reporting on the statements made during the press briefing today. Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin has in the meantime already issued a written statement clarifying her position and that of the Council of Ministers on the financing of the airport reconstruction project.

The position of Wever is under fire as well for the fact that his cabinet and support staff members are coming from opposition camps, especially from the USp party. Another issue of contention is the fact that Wever was chef de cabinet for former VROMI Minister Miklos Giterson who was basically ousted for lack of action. Now all of a sudden things within the ministry of VROMI is getting done with an energy and drive that simply was not there before eventhough Wever was a key member of the Giterson staff advising him on projects.

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