PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The United St. Maarten Party (USP) on Tuesday reacted to Michael Ferrier’s criticism of the party as “the proverbial kettle having a conversation with the pot, with both knowing each other well.” The party board asked the public to “consider the source of the criticism” and dismissed Ferrier as a condemned crook who for some reason is still seeking to be relevant on the political landscape of St. Maarten.
Ferrier, the board noted, with his history of shady business right up to dodging from paying almost NAf 1.3 million in owed land fees to the government of St. Maarten, should be the last person to be critical. “This money was owed while he was Minister of Finance. Talk about immorality,” the board said.
Lest we forget, the board continued, Ferrier and his Shipyard N.V. were not only condemned by the court to go pay the outstanding money, but he was also condemned by the Parliament of St. Maarten for the same issue, via a motion in August 2019. Parliament also established in the same motion that Ferrier provided information under false pretenses that could be considered forgery.
“The money he and his business partners refused to pay to the coffers of St. Maarten could have gone to schools, the police, infrastructure repair, needed subsidies and the like. Instead, to further enrich themselves, they willfully skirted their legal obligation to pay,” the USP board said.
“This is a person who stood on his high horse as a Minister of Finance and insulted the people of St. Maarten by calling them tax dodgers, while he and his company milked this country. Today, he is trying to rehab his image by trying to disparage the USP and painting a holier-than-thou picture of himself. But the people have not forgotten that he is a condemned, failed, irrelevant former public servant who used his title to hide his shady affairs,” the board concluded.
