Prime Minister says SOL meeting produced no immediate bill reduction, transfers GEBE coordination to VROMI and promises documents as MPs demand deadlines and explanations.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina confirmed that an agreement signed on November 4 provides for three new GEBE generators, each with a capacity of 9.3 megawatts, while acknowledging that his meeting with fuel supplier SOL produced neither an immediate reduction in electricity bills nor an agreed relief program.
Responding to MPs during the November 6 continuation of the 2027 draft budget debate, Mercelina defended the government’s handling of the electricity crisis, outlined recruitment and legislative initiatives, and announced that VROMI Minister Patrice Gumbs Jr. would serve as the Council of Ministers’ point of contact for GEBE going forward.
However, several responses prompted further questions. MPs pressed for the generator specifications and financial implications, the status of GEBE’s disconnection policy, a decision on a shareholder-initiated inquiry, a legislative timetable and a solution to the stalled appointments affecting the Social Economic Council, known as the SER.
Mercelina also could not provide a definitive completion date for firefighters’ placement or a final figure for the resulting retroactive payments.
At the end of the clarification round, the Prime Minister said several questions required additional research and offered to return or provide written answers. Objections were raised to dealing with the outstanding matters solely in writing, and the proceedings moved toward another minister’s responses without settling those substantive questions in the exchange.
Three generators confirmed after financing changes
Mercelina rejected the premise that St. Maarten would receive only two generators instead of three.
Responding to MP Darryl York, he said the original financing of 42 million had become insufficient because of rising costs, but GEBE had secured the additional 28 million required to move the project forward.
“The financing arrangement has changed, but the commitment has not,” Mercelina said. “St. Martin will receive all three generators.”
York subsequently acknowledged that his earlier assertion about two generators was incorrect and apologized, explaining that conflicting media reports had caused the confusion.
Mercelina described the November 4 signing as a significant step toward a more reliable electricity supply. He said he had coordinated the government’s response from the initial stabilization effort through the signing of the agreement.
Nevertheless, questions about the equipment and its impact on customers remained.
MP Francisco Lacroes requested the specifications, clarification of the fuels the generators could use, and an assessment of what the investment would cost consumers. He also asked about an earlier motion concerning liquefied natural gas and the status of the associated study.
Lacroes further questioned how a proposed fuel-cost cap could work without fuel hedging and additional storage capacity. MP Sarah Wescot-Williams supported the request for clarification and asked how such a cap would relate to the RAC/BTP report.
VROMI becomes GEBE point of contact
Mercelina said the Council of Ministers had formalized a request from the VROMI Minister to resume the role of GEBE point of contact through a decision dated October 29.
He distinguished that decision from his own continuing involvement through the November 4 signing.
Going forward, he said, the VROMI Minister would answer GEBE-related questions.
That announcement immediately raised questions about accountability for pending matters.
Wescot-Williams asked whether she should now direct questions about implementation of the RAC/BTP recommendations to the VROMI Minister, including matters raised in correspondence already sent to the Prime Minister and TEATT Minister.
Mercelina committed to providing Parliament with the agreement between government and GEBE, together with the relevant national decree. He said he had instructed the Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers to send the documents.
SOL meeting produced options, not immediate relief
In one of his clearest distinctions between discussion and delivery, Mercelina said the meeting with SOL, the Finance Minister and coalition and opposition MPs had clarified fuel-cost drivers and identified options for further assessment.
“No agreement on those options or immediate reduction in electricity bills resulted,” he said.
Addressing whether TEATT Minister Grisha Heyliger-Marten had supported the engagement, Mercelina said she had been invited and that the Council of Ministers had been informed.
However, he expressly distinguished collective awareness from separate ministerial approval.
He also said the options discussed could not be presented as an agreed program between ministers.
According to Mercelina, the meeting neither replaced the ongoing BTP supervisory review nor prejudged its findings. Any measures would have to proceed through the responsible authorities and established procedures.
Responding separately to MP Egbert Jurendy Doran, Mercelina denied having said the fuel clause was linked to SOL rather than GEBE. His explanation was that it was primarily linked to the cost of fuel supplied by SOL to GEBE.
In response to a question from MP Veronica Jansen-Webster, he said fuel used to produce electricity was exempt from turnover tax.
Disconnection policy and inquiry questions remain
MP Sjamira Roseburg said several of her GEBE questions remained unanswered.
She recalled earlier assurances that a disconnection policy was close to completion and asked why vulnerable customers, including seniors and people with medical needs, were still facing disconnection.
Roseburg again offered a draft policy to help advance the process and sought a clear statement of the policy’s status.
York also requested an official answer on whether a completed policy existed and, if not, the authority under which disconnections were taking place. His questions did not establish that any particular disconnection was unlawful.
Roseburg further pressed the Council of Ministers on its position on an inquiry procedure that the shareholder could initiate.
She referred to her May request and an August 5 response indicating that the procedure would not be started then. She argued that the government should reconsider rather than wait for intervention by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Those questions remained among the matters requiring further answers in the supplied proceedings.
Mercelina defended GEBE’s existing governance structure, saying the utility already had significant autonomy when it followed corporate governance procedures.
York then asked whether the shareholder could prevent management from making a significant investment. Wescot-Williams separately requested an update on government-wide corporate governance work and protocols involving government-owned companies.
Firefighters still without a firm placement deadline
Responding to MPs Omar Ottley and Francisco Lacroes, Mercelina said the firefighters’ placement process remained underway, with the first batch of placement letters under review.
He attributed delays to staffing shortages in Personnel and Organization (P&O) and medical leave affecting key personnel.
The Prime Minister said the government was working with the union, Fire Department management and the negotiation team to ensure that individual placements and calculations were accurate and legally sound.
However, he could not give a definitive completion date or confirm that the process would be completed before the end of 2026.
He said the exact number of employees entitled to retroactive payment and the total financial liability would only be known once placement and verification were completed.
Mercelina confirmed that the 2027 budget funded 16 vacant Fire Department positions. No final amount had been reserved exclusively for retroactive payments, although he said budgetary flexibility existed to address the obligations once determined.
On the April 9 agreement with firefighters’ representatives, he reported progress on placement reviews, terms of reference for a benchmark study, and efforts concerning insurance, psychological support, equipment and facilities.
Placement and promotion matters remained unfinished. Life insurance was still under discussion and research, he said.
The most recent broader negotiating meeting had taken place on October 13.
Low salary scales: Prime Minister points to union consultations
MP Lyndon Lewis questioned why some employees providing essential government services were paid so little.
Mercelina said he had submitted a proposal approximately a year earlier to improve remuneration in salary scales one through four and had repeatedly reminded the unions.
He said he was awaiting their response so the process could advance within the government’s financial framework.
Lewis welcomed that information but challenged the continued publication of an internal kitchen-assistant vacancy advertising a salary range beginning at approximately 1,600 and extending to 2,819 guilders.
He urged the Prime Minister to keep pressing the issue and communicate more clearly with employees about the steps being taken.
Mercelina’s response did not establish an implementation date for the proposed salary adjustments.
SER appointments depend on outstanding nominations
The Prime Minister defended an additional 50,000 Caribbean guilders proposed for the SER in 2027, saying increasingly complex parliamentary legislative initiatives required specialist legal research and, where necessary, external expertise.
He said the secretariat had continued working, while acknowledging an interruption in the board’s functioning and the need to restore full advisory capacity.
Mercelina maintained that the government had completed its part of the nomination process for independent members and substitutes. He said outstanding nominations from employer and employee organizations were preventing completion of the board.
“If it was solely in my hands, this would have been resolved many months ago,” he told Parliament.
He said employee organizations had recently committed to providing required representation information and legally compliant nominations within two weeks. Similar requests had been made to employer organizations.
That was not a firm date for restoration of the board: Mercelina said completion remained dependent on receiving and assessing the submissions.
Wescot-Williams asked whether the government would support amending the SER law to provide a temporary solution when nominations stalled. She said she already had a draft amendment.
Roseburg likewise questioned how long legislation could remain waiting and whether the law should provide another route after a specified period.
Legislative agenda remains under preparation
Responding to Roseburg, Mercelina said all ministries had been asked to identify their 2027 legislative priorities and report the status of draft laws.
General Affairs would consolidate the submissions into a government-wide agenda for the Council of Ministers to consider and formally adopt.
He promised to share the adopted agenda once that process was completed.
Roseburg was dissatisfied with another process-based answer. She requested the list during the budget proceedings or a clear deadline for receiving it, noting that ministers were already describing laws and timelines in their presentations.
On screening legislation, Mercelina provided a more specific schedule.
He expected a draft to reach the Department of Legal Affairs and Legislation for review in the first quarter of 2027, followed by consideration by the Council of Ministers and Council of Advice.
If that process proceeded as anticipated, he expected to submit it to Parliament during the second half of 2027.
Dutch-funded legal pool to support local departments
Mercelina said a proposed pool of legal experts would provide temporary additional capacity for legislative drafting, legal review, procurement, contracts, compliance and other advisory work.
The experts would be recruited through the TWO and financed by the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, BZK, under the country package.
He stressed that St. Maarten would retain control of its priorities and legal processes, with the local legal department remaining the central coordinator and quality reviewer.
The objective, he said, was to strengthen capacity, transfer knowledge and reduce reliance on separate external consultants hired project by project.
Wescot-Williams requested a more precise explanation of how ministries’ legislative priorities would be matched to the pool and how assignments would operate.
Roads and tender questions referred to VROMI
Mercelina repeatedly referred questions concerning roads, permit publication and tender disqualifications to the VROMI Minister.
On a question about a permit reportedly published only one day before the objection period ended, he said that should not happen if the circumstances were as described. He did not establish that the account was factually or legally correct.
On tender participants allegedly disqualified for failing to initial supporting official documents, Mercelina said he lacked the necessary case details.
Legal Affairs would need the tender documents, applicable procedure and related information before advising, he said.
He also said VROMI had not asked the department to advise on that specific matter.
Asked to assess road progress as the country’s leader, Mercelina again deferred to the minister responsible, saying VROMI had to determine and explain its priorities.
On the dangerous damaged area at the Marie Genevieve de Weever School, he said he had immediately asked the ECYS Minister to address the situation once informed.
Projects can proceed without a new 2026 capital loan
Mercelina told Jansen-Webster that the absence of a new capital loan for 2026 did not mean all projects had to stop.
He identified existing budget resources, previously approved capital funding, the Trust Fund and TWO-supported programs as possible financing sources.
Within General Affairs, he cited Fire Department equipment, replacement of the passport storage system, blank cards for Civil Registry, cybersecurity, digital transformation and ICT modernization.
He emphasized that implementation also depended on project plans, procurement readiness and personnel.
For 2027, General Affairs had budgeted one new capital project: acquiring a government-owned administrative facility to reduce recurring office-rental expenditure.
Preparatory work was being undertaken through the country-package accommodation program, he said.
Mercelina also promised Parliament the current government administration building contract, noting that discussions were underway to revise it.
Recruitment support and digital safeguards
Mercelina said 20 staff members had been hired with P&O support during 2026, although many recruitment processes began before that year’s budget was approved.
He cautioned that P&O’s involvement did not mean every appointment had completed all subsequent administrative and signatory stages.
He reported that a new local section head would start shortly, a recruitment specialist was being engaged, and preparations were underway for an external agency to support government-wide recruitment.
He expected the remaining jubilee-benefit backlog to be cleared by early 2027.
On digital government, Mercelina acknowledged that the 2027 budget included no dedicated data protection officer position.
He said responsibilities were reflected in draft legislation and could be supported through existing staff and specialized external assistance. He maintained that this would not delay digital services and promised assessments and safeguards before new services were launched.
Reform costs, consultants and oversight information
Responding to Lewis on country-package reforms, Mercelina said the measures would support institutional strengthening, better services, and updated policies and legislation.
However, their ongoing operating costs would have to be determined measure by measure. He did not provide a consolidated estimate of the long-term cost to government.
He promised to request information from the World Bank on spending associated with studies and reports and share the response with Parliament.
On consultancy services, he identified budget categories 413 and 416 and described anticipated General Affairs support for facility services, P&O and the staff bureau. His oral response did not provide the requested ministry-by-ministry cost breakdown.
Doran’s questions about conflicts of interest within oversight and advisory institutions had been forwarded to the institutions themselves. Mercelina promised to provide their guidelines once received.
On Dutch assistance requested in December 2025 for police-station conditions, Mercelina said there had been “no positive feedback.” Roseburg asked whether that meant an actual refusal or no substantive answer.
Regarding the separate parliamentary integrity discussion, Mercelina said he had already appeared to answer questions and had received a visit from the Integrity Chamber. York asked whether the parliamentary meeting had actually concluded or remained adjourned between rounds.
Regional cooperation supported, but no timetable
Mercelina affirmed the government’s interest in regional cooperation and possible future CARICOM associate membership.
However, he argued that St. Maarten first needed clearer national objectives, including in education and healthcare, to ensure meaningful participation.
He estimated annual membership costs at 300,000 to 500,000 guilders, correcting himself after initially referring to dollars.
Wescot-Williams requested a step-by-step timetable rather than another general statement of support. She also asked whether engagement with the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States was on the government’s agenda.
The Prime Minister’s responses established several commitments to provide documents and information. But the clarification round also left Parliament seeking firm dates, completed policies and clearer responsibility for decisions affecting electricity customers, firefighters, public servants and the government’s legislative program.
