CDA-faction has doubts about St. Maarten’s reliability

THE HAGUE – Members of the CDA-faction in the Second Chamber have their doubts about St. Maarten’s commitment to the conditions attached to Dutch liquidity support. This appears from the minutes of a written consultation in the parliamentary committee for Kingdom Relations. The CDA is in particular concerned about the history of MP Rolando Brison.

“What reinforces our doubts about St. Maarten’s reliability is the fact that an active politician has embezzled money from Winair, a company that is financially supported by the Netherlands. The president of parliament Brison is buddies with casino boss Corallo who is associated with the Sicilian mafia and who has bribed the former prime minister of Curacao Schotte.”

While the faction did not identify the “active politician” it is a clear reference to MP Rolando Brison. “Is the cabinet of the opinion that there are currently sufficient guarantees that the political decision making process in St. Maarten – especially about the financial support from the Netherlands – is sufficiently free of improper influence?” the faction wrote in its contribution to the debate.

The faction asked whether the government is aware of the fact that an employee of Winair (MP Rolando Brison – ed.) embezzled more than $40,000 from Winair in 2012. “Does the state secretary know that this former employee is now an active politician? Did the repayment of this outstanding claim play a role in granting support to Winair?”

The faction also asks for proof that there is “concrete support” from the parliament in St. Maarten for the COHO-agreement. “Statements in parliament point more towards support for the prime minister than for the agreement. Do you agree that the support in parliament is very vulnerable? What does this mean for the necessary support in St. Maarten to arrive at a successful consensus kingdom law?”

The CDA-faction furthermore referred to a picture that appeared on stmaartennews.com that shows MP Brison in the company of Francesco Corallo, to Corallo’s charges for tax fraud in Italy and his improper influence on politics in Curacao through his connection with former Prime Minister Gerrit Schotte.

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