MP Peterson destroys MP Brison’s allegations against him

PHILIPSBURG — Party for Progress (PFP)-MP Raeyhon Peterson is not amused by the attack on his integrity by UP-leader MP Rolando Brison and by Brison’s suggestion that the overdevelopment of Mullet Bay is due to rental agreements Peterson (allegedly) issued while he was acting head of Domain Affairs. Peterson dismantled these allegations in great detail in a PFP press release.

The Nature Foundation submitted a petition to the Parliament’s Petitions Committee expressing concern about the overdevelopment of Mullet Bay but, according to Peterson, the reactions from Ministers Arthur Lambriex (TEATT) and Egbert Doran (VROMI) were “nonchalant.” Adding insult to injury, MP Rolando Brison implied that the overdevelopment is due to what Peterson did when he was the acting head of Domain Affairs under Minister Miklos Giterson by issuing rental agreements.

“The young boys of the coalition take every opportunity to try and twist the facts,” Peterson wrote in his press release. “But I am not here to play childish games, especially not with persons who have been proven (….) to make up the rules as they go along an as it suits them.”

Peterson stated that the rental agreements were established “because there was no legal basis beyond an economic license for vendors to be on Mullet Bay.” These agreements protected vendors against actions of Sun Resorts, the owner of the former Mullet Bay Hotel.

The department of legal affairs agreed with Peterson’s assessment that Country St. Maarten could act as the owner of Mullet Bay Beach.

“That is when former Minister Giterson issued rental agreements to all license holders. It gave them a legal basis to place temporary facilities,” Peterson points out. For other permits, such as building permits, vendors would have to go to the VROMI-ministry. “That has absolutely nothing to do with Domain Affairs.”

Peterson furthermore notes that he was removed from his position as Acting Head of Domain Affairs in 2019 and that the building permit-request for the Kaluata restaurant was submitted in 2020 “under the current minister Doran.”

“To insinuate that we had anything to do with what is happening now is the failed smoke-tactic that is classic from the predictably wrong MP Brison,” Peterson wrote.

That the country could act as the owner of Mullet Bay was Peterson’s main reason to vote against the Mullet Bay parliamentary inquiry: “The minister had already taken back the beach for the country.”

Peterson noted that MP Brison made weak attempts to discredit him and the functioning of the Party for Progress and that he then chose to attack his integrity and, by extension, the integrity of the PFP. “I would advise my colleague  to take care when trying to shade others on their integrity. He lives in a glass house,” he stated with a reference to a party at Brison’s house where he revealed his true feelings about the founders of the UP party. “There is a reason why he had to step down as Chairman of Parliament, so he really should not be throwing stones.”

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Related article: Peterson: Smoke and Mirror Tactics Will Not Prevail