He added that all the claims had never been backed up with proof that people had circumvented the process to obtain permits.
Tuesday's meeting was requested by opposition National Alliance (NA) to obtain clarity on the BTA process and whether Duncan has issued a verbal order to extend the intake process. NA Parliamentarians stated in their presentations that they had been told by members of the public that people who did not qualify for BTA permits or who had not applied in the designated time had been able to obtain permits when the minister "extended" the intake period.
Duncan said in answering questions posed by MPs that he had not create any new category under the BTA that allowed other people who might have lived here for a shorter time than stipulated in the accord to obtain permits.
He explained that when St. Maarten became a country in October 2010 an overview of the BTA process had been requested from the coordinator of the process based in Cura�ao, but this never had been received. Duncan subsequently put the process on hold to get an idea of what was going on and later gave the go-ahead for the restart of intake. This restart was based simply on "fairness."
Duncan said it had been only fair to allow people who had applied during the BTA time frame in the latter part of 2010, but had not had all the necessary documents, an opportunity to complete their applications. If the applications were not completed, the people faced becoming illegal again.
NA Parliamentarian William Marlin was keen on persuading the minister to unravel the "confusion" that surrounded the BTA process. To this, Duncan said there was no confusion in the process or in his ministers and reiterated that the confusion had been caused by some sections of the press.
Marlin also pointed out that something was not right with the process, because people had been "camping out" in front of the Labour Department and the Immigration and Naturalisation Department, sometimes from the night before, to obtain numbers the next day.
Duncan, who had been an NA minister in the past, said government could not force people to go home. He added that a new system has been put in place whereby numbers would be given out to people starting at 6:00am each day and he had appealed personally to people queuing up before midnight to go home and come back.
He gave the example of one woman who had lined up with her pillow and bedspread and all attempts to persuade her to go home had fallen on deaf ears, because she had secured the first spot in the line.
MP Roy Marlin (DP) said NA parliamentarians were querying what was being done to ensure people with Dutch nationality had access to jobs, but when the former Democratic Party (DP) Executive Council had introduced a stricter foreign workers employment policy, it had been criticised heavily at being anti-foreigner.
Similarly, MP Dr. Ruth Douglass (UP) questioned where the opposition's concern about the BTA process had been prior to the arrest of four members of the BTA team on suspicion of wrongdoing.
MP Johan Leonard (UP) said once people's status was regulated they could become productive members of the community by paying their taxes and cost for health care, among other things.
Independent MP Patrick Illidge said country St. Maarten was still young and time was needed to correct all of the processes. He chided NA members for trying to bring down everything on which government was working.
MP Romain Laville (UP) called for all departments of government to work together to get the immigration issues under control. He said without proper regulation St. Maarten would continue to lose young minds who were unable to get an education because although they had been born here their status never had been regulated because their parents were undocumented.
MP Leroy de Weever vehemently stated that the Dutch Government was forcing St. Maarten to take costly measures to bring its functioning to the level the Dutch wanted, which included the regulating of undocumented people, but the money was not readily available. He suggested that if the Dutch wanted improvement to their levels, then they should pay the cost for St. Maarten.
Duncan said the BTA process served to point out that the number of undocumented people in St. Maarten was not in 50,000 range as had been suggested in some circles in the Kingdom. The BTA numbers reached just over 6,000 undocumented people.
MP Frans Richardson (NA) had queried what was being done about people who were taking advantage of undocumented people by taking large sums of money to fix their papers. Duncan said anyone could get advice or help with getting their documents together, but in the BTA process everyone had to appear in person with their documents.
MP Dr. Lloyd Richardson (NA) said St. Maarten was saturated and wanted to know if the BTA process had been completed.
At present, the completion of the BTA process has been stalled because of the arrest of four people on suspicion of wrongdoing with documents. The minister has sent home with pay the other members of the BTA processing team. Some of the team members who worked for BTA under the former Netherlands Antilles government are yet to receive payment for their work in 2010.
Duncan said the Prosecutor's Office had seized all BTA files and had indicated that its investigation should be wrapped up some time later this month. Once the files are released, the BTA team can resume its work.
Answering NA MP George Pantophlet's questions, the minister said most employers, when called on to prove that applicants in BTA category II indeed worked for them, had showed up without issue. He added that an amendment to the law regulating fines is in the making to curb employers from hiring undocumented workers in the future.
This amendment, once passed by Parliament, will give police/Immigration officers or civil servants the authority to give a fine on the spot to an employer of an undocumented person, compared to the present system where the maximum fine of NAf. 100,000 is only levied after a court case is filed by the Prosecutor's Office.
The BTA process was not trusted at first by undocumented people because many saw it as a possible hoax to trap them. However, as the process continued people began to trust and have confidence in government that they would be treated fairly in the process, Duncan said.
There has been strict control on the process and any illegality or discrepancies were reported to the police, as was done in the case of four people who are still in police custody, the minister said.
Further on the matter of fairness, Duncan said his cabinet was reviewing several cases in which the former Lt. Governor's Cabinet had ruled that people had gaps in their permit times. He said the issue of gaps ? lapses in time between the expiration of one permit and the granting of another ? had been used unfairly and some of these decisions were being overruled.
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