PHILIPSBURG--Finance Minister Hiro Shigemoto has responded to a series of questions on creditors, debt relief, payment of taxes by the former Pelican Report Club and other topics posed in a letter to him by National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament (MP) George Pantophlet. The letter, dated February 28, was forwarded via the office of President of Parliament Gracita Arrindell and received by the minister on March 10.
The minister informed the MP, in response to his questions, that the contact person in charge of disbursing some NAf. 60 million to creditors of the former Netherlands Antilles was former Antillean director of finance Jose Jardin and that NAf. 1,716,003 had been paid out directly to the creditors of the former Netherlands Antilles on behalf of St. Maarten up to and including February 21.
Pantophlet asked about the account from which the funds were being taken and whether St. Maarten has access to information on it to ensure that the funds are allocated properly. To this, Shigemoto said the account did not belong to St. Maarten; therefore, no one from St. Maarten has such access. However, the Government Accountants Bureau SOAB is controlling the account along with the Central Bank of Cura�ao and St. Maarten.
Pantophlet's enquired how much tax was owed by the former Pelican Resort owners and over what period. The minister said the information was confidential and could not be disclosed without the owners' consent. He also said the present owners of the resort have deposited several cheques with the St. Maarten Receiver's Office to cover the US $1.2 million in transfer tax.
On the questions about government's ability to borrow, the minister said SOAB was compiling data for the collective sector. When this is completed and approved by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the income of the collective sector can be established and will be used to determine the interest norm.
"After this process is completed and the information is available, then this question can be answered. However, St. Maarten can only borrow within its interest norm as stipulated in the Rijkswet Financieel Toezicht Cura�ao en Sint Maarten," the minister said.
St. Maarten initially owed the Dutch Government NAf. 295,108,460.61 and a bond was issued via the Central Bank on October 21, 2010, to pay off that amount. Interest on the bond issue is due annually and the first principal payment is due in October 2020.These were answers to other questions posed by the MP.
The exact amount owed to government in back taxes prior to 2006 is not known, as some debts in government's database are assessments, Shigemoto answered to another query of the MP.
Pantophlet: "An amount of NAf. 5 million in dividends was mentioned to balance the 2011 budget. Which company are these funds coming from?" According to the minister, the funds will come from Princess Juliana International Airport Operating Company.
As for a response from the Dutch Government on the approval of some NAf. 40 million in payment to creditors as part of the NAf. 183 million debt relief, the minister said no response had been received as yet from the office of Dutch Minister for Internal Affairs and Kingdom Relations Piet Hein Donner.
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