Philipsburg: --- Island Council member Petrus Leroy De Weever tabled a second motion of non-confidence against finance commissioner Xavier Blackman on Wednesday during the island council meeting called by the Democratic Party.
De Weever said leader of government William Marlin has given Blackman a motion of no confidence when he publicly announced on Tuesday that he had to seek assistance from outside with the 2010 budget so that it could be approved by the CFT. De Weever said St. Maarten is confronted with a level of incompetence in Blackman who is constantly traveling overseas. He said Blackman needs to assume his responsibilities and not look for scapegoats or people to blame for his failure. He felt with the motion of non-confidence against Blackman would end the blame game against the civil servants especially those in the finance department.
The island council member said Blackman has his priorities set wrong and as such, he can no longer enjoy the confidence of the island council. Copies of the motion will be sent to the first and second chamber of the Dutch Parliament, The Kingdom Council of Ministers, and the Governor of the Netherlands Antilles and the Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles.
De Weever said the leader of government has already given Blackman a motion of non confidence in his media article and in that same fate he is bringing his motion against Blackman. A copy of the motion can be viewed at the end of this article.
De Weever said St Maarten is faced with a high level of incompetence since the island leaders failed to prepare for the responsibilities and take over of tasks from the central government, reasons why he believed the current executive council is try to get service level agreements with the Dutch and Central government.
De Weever made clear that if the delegation that is currently in Holland comes back to St. Maarten with another level of higher supervision he would give up his job as an island council member. He said he would not be in an island council that is dictated by outside forces.
The island council member said all eleven members of the council was elected by the people of St. Maarten even if some is more competent that the others, nevertheless they are all sitting in the council as a representative of the people. He said those persons who wants to participate in the people's business should get on a list and be elected by the people before trying to tell the elected on how to run the people's affairs.
De Weever said the current executive council is full of surprises and he will not be surprised if they make another amendment to allow un-authorized people to participate in deliberations of the people's business.
De Weever said if 10/10/10 means giving up levels of autonomy then the Dutch can keep their status change and leave St. Maarten as is, since the elected officials can still sit in a central committee or island council meeting to discuss matters related to the people of St. Maarten without having outside dictators dangling over their heads, or threatening the island with further higher supervision. He said the motion against Blackman is rather unfortunate but it is warranted since Blackman has pushed the island leader to seek assistance from the same persons St. Maarten is trying to run away from, the motion presented will come up for voting next Thursday when the continuation of the meeting continues.
Also expressing dissatisfaction against Blackman is former commissioner of finance Roy Marlin. Marlin said the requests of the CFT were very simple and if the civil servants in the finance department did it in 2009, they are able to do it again. Marlin said Blackman has an obligation to St. Maarten and he should have been on St. Maarten to hear what the CFT has to say about the 2010 budget that was approved by the island council. Marlin said Blackman has his priorities set wrong and his actions will jeopardize St. Maarten and its status change. Marlin said he is now wondering if Blackman has any allegiance to St. Maarten and if he did then he would have dealt with the issues of the 2010 budget differently.
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