PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Over the past eight years of our island becoming a country under the Kingdom of the Netherlands, we have had endless coalition governments. In those coalition governments, we have seen members of the present and past Members of Parliament of the National Alliance apart of those administrations.
Nowadays the National Alliance (NA) and United St. Maarten Party (USP) continuously disrespects the Chairlady of Parliament and sounds like a spoil child complaining about the request for meetings of parliament. Is it the role of a MP to only convene a meeting for them to work? Is the only role of the opposition to complain about Government while they forgot what all they did and failed to do while in Government?
All sorts of questions arise about questions about the library, the housing repair situation and the Post Office workers. Wasn’t all those concerns a reality after the passage of Hurricane Irma? The Government leaded by the then Prime Minister failed miserably in displaying leadership of which MP Silveria Jacobs and Christopher Emmanuel was apart of in the aftermath of the devastation of Hurricane Irma.
What did MP Jacobs ever do to assist the library as it fell under her portfolio? What did MP Emmanuel ever do to assist the repair of homes as it fell under his portfolio? Did he only create the second dump site? What did MP Marlin do to assist PSS while it fell under his portfolio? A possible sell out to Flamingo Post? Why did the NA led-Government do nothing to assist the Airport in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma? Why was not directive to clean out the terminal never happened?
The functioning of Parliament does not rely on the attendance of Ministers to make you work for the people of our country. What laws have been drafted by our parliamentarians to date? Parliamentarians have a nice working life as they work one week for scheduled meetings and the following week they get time off to do some reading of documents. Do they really read for a whole week? Vacation for weeks in July and December annually. Or is it all about trips to Suriname and Parlatino and deflecting press releases or social media broadcast which reek of emotional rants and no substance?
I am personally tired of the National Alliance and their selective amnesia of how they have failed the people of our country for decades both in Government and in opposition. Word of advice, just sit back and let the Government govern, as its only been seven months of this UD led-Government.
SignedÂ
Peter Robertson
