Le Conseiller territorial indépendant, Jules Charville, avait comme à son habitude prévu de s’exprimer en préambule de la réunion du CT de jeudi dernier, 19 décembre 2013.
Malheureusement arrivé en retard à la séance, et en dépit de la demande effectuée par téléphone auprès de la Chef de Cabinet de la Présidente Hanson, Jules Charville n’a pas été inscrit sur la listes des intervenants et n’a donc pu délivrer le message souhaité.
SXMinfo vous propose ci-dessous l’intégralité de l’intervention telle que prévue par Monsieur Charville.
Madam President
Esteemed Vice-Presidents Esteemed Territorial Councilors, Ladies and Gentlemen
We are gathered here today for the last meeting of this Territorial Council, for the year 2013.The items on the agenda , including the No.2 amendment decision for the 2013 budget, the 2014 Budget Guidelines, are all equally important. I would only hope that the objectives and orientations taken and adopted by you, Mme President and the members of your majority, enable efficient operation and strict management of our community and our institutions. Assuming that only the general interest makes sense.
Madam President, it is above all today, that as a free man, I express the depth of my mind. And the least one can say is that I remain committed to my line of defending the interests of the St Martin population.
For the past few days, I was deeply touched by 2 highlighted events:
The first event : It is the remarks made by the “Prefect” Mr. Philippe Chopin , and reported in the St Martinweeks newspaper on Friday December 13th 2013. In fact, I highly recommend that my colleagues who have not yet read it, do so … One more time, Madam President, your administration is criticized for its lack of thoughtful projects for Saint- Martin (hence its lack of maturity) , its lack of vision , its lack of persistence , and finally , and this is me saying , its lack of love for St. Martin . The “Prefect” who is the legal representative of the State draws a picture that we all know but yet has been kept hidden under the carpet for over 10 years.
The second event : It is the disappearance under conditions not yet clear but all in all , tragic , of a French military from Saint- Martin (Mr. Rodrigue Helligar ). For over a month, there were those who did not know, and there were those who knew but said nothing … But what do we really want? Where are we heading? What kind of people have we became? Where is the compassion that we St Martiners are known for?
Other questions arise …
It is in this context that I intend to commit myself with the association “True Hope For St Martin”, in collaboration with the population, even though some pretend
not to understand the meaning of the work we do for the only advocacy of all Saint Martiners, without distinction. I salute and thank the Territorial councilers who have made us the honor to be present during the panel discussion we held on Saturday, December 7 2013, where it was question of statutory change and Article 74. Through the findings of our work, we emphasize the need to review our Organic Law and some items that cause us problems. The Minister of overseas territories, Victorin Lurel has offered his assistance last June, and gave us a period of 6 months ( until December 2013 ). Since then we have shown our cowardice, our fear and nervousness . The association True Hope For St Martin has taken the decision to create a working committee to be composed of a cross section of our population. All men and women volunteers, who love Saint- Martin, and who will reflect on the amendments that should be made to the organic law, based on our specificities. Madam President, may I say to you that based on the article that my colleague Rene-Jean Dure has published on “SXMINFO” on December 9th 2013, he’s welcome to join that working committee .
Madam President your majority and your self should immediately put an end to party politics. Please renew your minds! The same is valid for the opposition group.
In conclusion, Madam President , dear colleagues “Doing politics differently ,” should not be considered a vulgar advertising slogan repeated all day long , but as a commitment by each of us.
The economic and social situation of Saint -Martin is dramatic. It affects every day and even more all Saint- Martiners, like all those young people who suffer from unemployment , and who are victims of violence and crime, and those merchants who are tired of the streets where repairs and renovations never seem to finish… I’m quite surprised also, Madame President, that you have not given a word of support to those people, in your introduction.
Merry Xmas to you, Madam President, and to the entire population of St Martin.