Minister Heyliger-Marten: “St. Maarten Cannot Function on 530 Million Guilders”

GREAT BAY--Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT), Grisha Heyliger-Marten, on Wednesday said the government of St. Maarten cannot meaningfully function on its current budget of 530 million guilders. She stressed that the country needs at least an additional 200 to 250 million guilders annually to meet basic obligations, provide competitive salaries, and ensure that ministries can operate effectively.

“Budget 2025 is 530 million guilders, and the ministries that receive the largest portions, Education with 120 million, Justice with 107 million, and VSA with 97 million, are still underfunded. What are we really telling the people?” Heyliger-Marten asked. “Do you think 530 million is enough to run this country? I would personally tell you, from an economic standpoint, no.”

The Minister emphasized that TEATT itself receives only 22 million guilders, of which just 4 million is used to market the country, despite the ministry’s role as the backbone of St. Maarten’s economy. “We are the ones who have to make sure that the economy keeps flowing,” she said. “Yet we are expected to do that with a fraction of the resources we need.”

Heyliger-Marten highlighted that the budget challenges predate the current administration. “We’ve been in office only a few months, and we are working with a budget that was not ours. Budget 2024 was already in place, and Budget 2025 had already been submitted. For 2024 we align our ideas with a budget that doesn’t reflect our vision,” she explained, an exercise that the government is trying to streamline moving forward with upcoming budgets.

She added that this reality forces ministries to rely on each other, sometimes even shifting small amounts of funds across portfolios to cover urgent needs. “I have to sometimes take out of my measly 20 million to help another minister when she (Justice) has issues,” she noted. “That is the reality we face.”

For Heyliger-Marten, the path forward is clear: “We need a cash injection of at least 200 to 250 million guilders to run this country properly. Without it, St. Maarten will remain stuck in the same cycle, no matter which administration is in charge. We need to find money to do right by the people, because 530 million is simply not hacking it.”

She says her ministry’s immediate focus is on closing revenue gaps, learning from regional examples, and adapting proven best practices to St. Maarten’s needs. “We just need to see who’s done it, copy what they’ve done, and do better.”

She pointed to Barbados as one recent example. Barbados has proposed a Tourist Accommodation Bill, which would require accommodations to be inspected and registered. This not only improves compliance and tax revenue, but also ensures fairer competition for the hotel sector and brings gray-market employment above board.

According to Heyliger-Marten, TEATT is actively researching how to bring these types of measures into St. Maarten’s policy framework. “The idea for TEATT right now is plugging the places where we are losing money,” she explained. “We are analyzing where we can bring meaningful income to the table, aligning ourselves with professionals who can help bridge the gaps, and studying what has worked in other jurisdictions.”

She highlighted ongoing dialogue with regional counterparts, including Barbados’s former Minister of Economic Affairs, Chad Blackman, who she described as “a close colleague” and expected visitor to St. Maarten soon. “These are the kinds of conversations we’re having,” Heyliger-Marten said. “We are paying attention to what is being done regionally, and our end game is clear: yield meaningful financial income for the country.”

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