PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The present majority coalition in parliament does not want to hear anything regarding the Princess Juliana International Airport. How else can they explain the embarrassment created in Thursday’s parliament meeting about the very airport? The deputy prime minister, totally unfamiliar with the topic, went out of his way to provide the information requested by members of parliament back in August.
He promised to be back at 4 pm. Lo and behold, the chairperson of parliament using the clock in the hall, proceeds to open and adjourn the meeting in a blink of an eye. He could not wait for the minister to return, the very minister who had come to parliament because he was summoned by the Chairman! Earlier in the meeting, the Chair had patiently waited for the same minister to arrive. So why not at 4 pm? The only reason this was done was to make it seem as if the minister was being belligerent.
Like the minister, my colleagues and I looked on in disbelief at the actions of the Chair. If they so wanted answers on the airport, the Chair could have adjourned until the arrival of Minister Smith. The majority coalition In parliament does not want answers. They are long passed that. What they want is the meeting on the airport to get to the stage where they can halt the process of the reconstruction financing for the airport from the World Bank/Trust Fund and EIB loan.
Their subtle threats to the airport’s CEO have not gone unnoticed. But guess what, in the coming days that process will become irreversible and the airport reconstruction will start in an affordable and sustainable way. Any attempts to thwart the process and go for the proverbial bird in the sky will be futile.
