PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister William Marlin invited Rene Koto Wilson to a meeting at his office on Thursday afternoon to discuss the Facebook message posted by Wilson and everything else that followed after.
The Prime Minister said he called Wilson on Thursday afternoon and invited him to meet with him at his office at 6 pm to clear the air on statements made and Facebook postings. Marlin said that Rene Wilson immediately accepted the invitation and was happy to meet with him.
Prime Minister Marlin said that he felt it was important to clear the air as the assumptions made about the PM wanting to postpone the date of the September elections were totally false and erroneous as well as the PM not having done anything to address the ship jumping.
Prime Minister said the meeting was held in a very pleasant atmosphere and that he provided Rene Wilson with documented information about the National Decree to hold elections in September 2016.
The Prime Minister said he reiterated once more that the government has no intention to change the date for the upcoming elections, that he has not sent no request anywhere to have the date of the elections postponed. Marlin said that the only proposal to change the date for the upcoming elections was made by the leader of the UP Member of Parliament Theo Heyliger when he proposed a National Government and postponing elections then until 2018. Marlin said both proposals had been rejected by him and maintained then and now as well, that the next elections will be held on September 26, 2016.
Prime Minister Marlin also provided Mr. Rene Wilson with the draft changes to the Constitution aimed at stemming Ship Jumping, with this proposal, Marlin explained to Rene Wilson, that a government could only be formed with the support of one or more political parties that have a majority of 8 or more seats in Parliament. Members of Parliament who leave their party and become independent members of Parliament, will no longer be able to use their seat to support the formation of a government.
Marlin also gave Wilson copies of the letters he sent to the Governor asking him to submit the draft to the Council of Advice and also to the Chairman of the Kingdom Council of Ministers, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mr. Mark Rutte.
To show what his government is doing to alleviate unemployment among the youth of Sint Maarten, Marlin shared a copy of his paper on the establishing of the YEP, the Youth Employment Fund. Marlin explained to Wilson that the legislation to establish the fund will soon be ready and the legal basis to raise the funds needed to employ some 200 young people between the ages of 18 and 30 years.
At the end of the meeting, Wilson thanked the Prime Minister for sharing the information with him and said he would further study the documents and asked to take a photo with the Prime Minister and for a press release to be issued to clear the air on what he said was something that was blown out of proportion.
The Prime Minister thanked Rene Wilson for answering his call and agreeing to meet and invited him to drop by anytime he needed information or wanted clarity on certain issues.
Wilson also advised the Prime Minister to use Facebook and other social media more in order to inform the general public on the different things he and the rest of the government were doing for the community.
The Prime Minister also provided information on the Roadside Cleaning Contracts that soon will be signed with small local contractors from the different neighbourhoods. With this initiative government will be creating close to 100 hundred jobs as these contracts will be for 2 years.
Marlin told Mr. Rene Wilson that this government supported by the Coalition of 8 is very committed to the youth and people of Sint Maarten. They also talked about the management of the Dump and the plans government has for the Waste to Energy Facility and the new approach to solid waste management.
