GREAT BAY--Member of Parliament Franklin Meyers has proposed redirecting Cg 2 million within the Ministry of Justice to help settle outstanding retroactive salary obligations owed to police personnel, while also tabling a separate motion seeking funding to advance the Ryan Gumbs DWI law as St. Maarten records a concerning number of traffic fatalities.
Meyers presented both proposals during the handling of the 2026 national budget, framing them as attempts to use existing financial resources for obligations and initiatives that can have a direct impact on public servants and road safety.
His budget amendment proposes a Cg 2 million reallocation within the Ministry of Justice. According to Meyers, the amount is presently budgeted to cover costs associated with St. Maarten detainees being housed in the Netherlands.
Meyers said an agreement has since been reached between the governments of St. Maarten and the Netherlands under which St. Maarten is no longer required to bear those detention costs. As a result, he argued, the Cg 2 million allocation is no longer required for its original purpose and can be redirected without increasing the overall Justice budget.
The MP proposes transferring the entire Cg 2 million to the budget allocation for retroactive payments owed within the Justice Ministry.
Meyers said the ministry already has an established obligation of approximately Cg 5.08 million relating to corrections and outstanding salary entitlements owed to police and police personnel. The proposed Cg 2 million transfer would therefore cover a significant portion of an existing obligation rather than create a new expenditure.
He described the amendment as strictly budget neutral. The overall expenditure ceiling for the Ministry of Justice would remain unchanged because the same Cg 2 million would simply move from an allocation that is no longer needed to one where a financial obligation already exists.
Meyers argued that the approach would allow unused funds to address what he considers a pressing responsibility to Justice personnel who have been waiting on money already determined to be owed to them.
The amendment also reflects a broader concern raised repeatedly during the budget debate about government’s outstanding obligations to public servants. In Meyers’ proposal, available room within the Justice budget would be used directly to reduce part of that backlog instead of remaining attached to a detention expense that government no longer has to carry.
Separately, Meyers tabled a motion concerning funding for the Ryan Gumbs DWI law.
The MP linked the proposal to the number of fatal traffic accidents recorded in St. Maarten in recent years. The figures cited in his motion indicate seven traffic-related deaths in 2024, four in 2025 and nine deaths thus far in 2026.
Meyers said financial limitations remain one of St. Maarten’s major challenges and argued that Parliament should therefore prioritize available resources for legislation that can provide a direct national benefit.
His motion calls on Members of Parliament to agree to use the required funding from the Parliament Secretariat’s legal allocation to advance the Ryan Gumbs DWI law.
The proposed legislation is intended to strengthen St. Maarten’s response to driving under the influence of alcohol or other substances, with Meyers presenting it as one measure that could contribute to reducing serious and fatal road accidents.
For Meyers, the increase in traffic deaths makes movement on the legislation increasingly urgent. He argued that a law aimed at addressing impaired driving would serve the wider population and should therefore be treated as a priority when Parliament considers how limited legal and financial resources are deployed.
The motion does not seek additional money outside the existing budget. Instead, it calls for the necessary resources to be identified within an existing parliamentary allocation so that the legislative process can move forward.
Through the two proposals, Meyers is seeking to redirect existing funds toward what he considers immediate priorities: settling part of the outstanding financial obligations to police personnel and advancing legislation aimed at addressing impaired driving and road fatalities.
