PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Member of Parliament Rolando Brison on Friday once again attempted to get personnel of the Justice Ministry of St. Maarten paid their retroactive pay when he tabled a motion declaring these payments as an urgent matter with national interests. The motion also called on former Minister of Finance Perry Geerlings to be held personally liable for any repercussions resulting from justice personnel not being paid.
Brison, who did not take kindly to funds that were meant for the police going to pay-off a Telem debt by firmer Minister of Finance Perry Geerlings, said Parliament had made it very clear to Geerlings that a primary focus was to pay the retroactive payments owed to Justice Ministry Personnel. These funds were secured on the Initiative of MP Brison’s draft initiative law approving the sale of UTS shares was passed unanimously by parliament.
“Minister of Finance Geerlings stated during this debate that he was in support of the funds going towards these Justice Ministry Personnel. Since then, a payment of half the estimated value of the UTS shares had already been received by government. Despite government receiving these funds, which were much more than what is needed to make the retroactive payments to the police, the Minister of Finance did not immediately appropriate these funds to the justice personnel, but rather chose to ignore them and instead pay TELEM a sum of 13 Million Guilders,” Brison said.
He added that current Minister of Justice Jurendy Doran has revealed to Parliament and the public that the so-called efforts by former Minister Geerlings to pay police officers amounted to little more than a “political stunt”.
Brison’s resolution resolved to:
- That parliament hereby declares the urgency in the payment of retroactive salaries to the Justice Ministry Personnel as that of “National Interest” in the context of Article 50 of the National Accountability Ordinance, and fully supports of the current efforts of the Ministry of Finance and Justice in preparing the necessary payments to Justice Ministry Personnel.
- To immediately exhaust every effort possible to pay at least a maximum of 50% of what is estimated to be owed to all Justice Ministry Personnel who qualify for such retroactive payments.
- That despite the fact that the first tranche of funds from the UTS Sale went towards paying Telem, that the interim Ministry of Finance should seek the support of this government owned company to refund the amount of funds required to execute point 2 of these resolves. Government could explain to Telem that their cooperation would go a long way in helping ensure the safety and security of all inhabitants and visitors of St. Maarten.
- That former caretaker Minister of Finance and Justice, Perry Geerlings, should be held personally liable insofar as allowed by law, in the event that as a result of his political stunt, the justice personnel are not able to be paid from the proceeds collected till now from the sale of UTS, or any other legal costs that may ensure as a result of executing this motion.
“Since 2010, hundreds of workers of the Police, Immigration, Customs and other offices and departments under the Justice Ministry and their families have been cut short from what they rightfully deserve in remuneration due to the adjustments that were supposed to be made since the transfer of the responsibilities of Justice to that of Country St. Maarten,” Brison said.
Parliament adjourned on Friday before the motion could be voted on. Minister Doran requested extra time to answer questions posed by Parliament and decided he would have to return to Parliament at a different date. This more than likely means justice ministry personnel will not be paid their retroactive pay before Christmas since Parliament is on break until early January.
