Doran says workers and families are paying for VROMI Minister failures

GREAT BAY--Member of Parliament Egbert Doran on Wednesday delivered a sweeping and forceful critique of VROMI Minister Patrice Gumbs in Parliament, accusing the Minister of poor judgment, weak execution, and decisions that are hurting workers, delaying development, and deepening frustration across St. Maarten.

Speaking during a public meeting on concerns related to the Ministry of VROMI, Doran opened with a sharp question to the Minister, asking how he slept the night before, arguing that more than 100 people likely did not sleep well because district cleaning contracts had ended and, in his view, families were left facing uncertainty and unemployment.

Doran said the Minister had single-handedly added more than 100 people to the unemployment line, calling the situation unacceptable at a time when government should be protecting livelihoods rather than adding to people’s hardship. He argued that an extension could have been arranged, just as was done in the case of garbage collection, but said the Minister chose not to do so.

He said his concern was not coming from contractors, but from workers themselves who were calling in search of jobs and opportunities. Doran stressed that behind every contract decision are real families already dealing with rising living costs and economic pressure.

He tied that concern to the wider cost of living, pointing to rising fuel prices and the daily burden facing ordinary people, and said government should not be adding to that burden by putting scores of workers out of a job.

Doran then widened his criticism to the state of the country’s roads and infrastructure, requesting a complete list of all road repairs carried out from 2020 to April 2026. He said there has been no structured road maintenance plan since 2024 and claimed that emergency works could not even be undertaken because of unresolved financial issues with the asphalt supplier.

He directly linked that lack of action to the recent serious accident involving police officers on Sucker Garden Road, arguing that the dangerous road condition had been brought to the attention of the Ministry, the Minister, and the public long before the crash, yet nothing was done to properly address it.

According to Doran, the issue had been flagged repeatedly, including privately and publicly, and the failure to remedy it reflected what he described as negligence and a lack of accountability. He said he was especially disturbed by what he claimed were comments suggesting the police lacked the proper training to drive, saying that kind of response sent the wrong signal and ignored the government’s own responsibility.

Doran also accused the Minister of publicly blaming garbage haulers while failing to acknowledge shortcomings within his own ministry. He said the same energy used to criticize others was missing when it came to admitting ministerial failures.

He argued that the failed garbage tender process showed a deeper problem, saying that while bidders were publicly chastised, Parliament was now hearing that the ministry itself had made communication errors. Doran said the public was entitled to a full and transparent breakdown of the criteria used and the reasons bidders were disqualified, adding that once the tender had been declared null and void, there should be no secrecy surrounding the process.

He also suggested that the terms of reference may have been so restrictive that it was nearly impossible for bidders to successfully meet the requirements, and questioned whether advice had been given to take a different approach.

Turning to capital projects and spending, Doran raised concerns about what he said were millions of guilders sitting unused in government accounts while key projects remain stalled. He questioned what had happened to capital expenditure allocations, why no meaningful projects had been executed in recent months, and what the Minister’s actual plan was for road repairs and infrastructure works.

He said letters sent to the Minister on these matters had gone unanswered and pushed back against any attempt to blame past administrations for current failures, arguing that if inherited bills or obligations were an issue, they should have been dealt with long ago.

Doran also challenged the Minister’s framing of the road budget, saying that if the current allocation is low, that reflects choices made by the current government. He said the public must understand that approved budgets reflect what government itself requests, and he rejected any attempt to create the impression that the Minister is simply trapped by circumstance.

He further said there has been no public tender for road repairs since he left office and challenged the Minister to prove otherwise. In his view, the country is seeing stagnation while available funds remain underutilized and projects continue to roll over, creating disorder in the budget and frustration in the public.

Doran also turned to revenue generation and permit handling, arguing that VROMI should be one of the ministries helping to bring money into government through building permits and related activity. He said the numbers show a troubling drop in construction activity and questioned whether the Minister had conducted any evaluation of what is going wrong in the departments responsible for inspections, permits, and infrastructure-related processing.

He said the ministry is hanging by a thread and warned that if internal dysfunction, personal issues, or poor management continue, there will be no productivity. He argued that development is being held back by slow or unresponsive permit handling, even while the public hears promises about housing and growth.

Doran also criticized what he described as selective treatment within the ministry, claiming that some people receive quick approvals and attention while others are left waiting for years. He said public service must be fair and consistent and that people should not have to suffer because of personal preferences or uneven treatment.

He pointed to cases where residents or small business operators have allegedly been forced to send repeated requests without response, saying that the ministry is becoming too personally involved in matters that should be handled professionally and impartially.

Throughout his intervention, Doran returned repeatedly to the human impact of government decisions, arguing that this is not only about paperwork, tenders, or budgets, but about jobs, safety, dignity, and whether people can move forward with their lives.

He said what is happening under the current administration reflects badly on the country and cannot continue, warning that St. Maarten is paying the price for what he described as incompetence, delay, and poor decision-making.

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