MP Wever reflects on first year in Parliament, outlines key initiatives

GREAT BAY--Member of Parliament Christopher Wever has reflected on his first full year in office, highlighting the differences between serving as a minister and as an MP, outlining key initiatives he is working on, and giving the current coalition government a performance grade of “around 7 out of 10.”

“I did not come into this for personal gain or for the politics,” Wever said. “I came to make a change for the people of St. Maarten and to prepare others to take up that mantle.”

Looking back at the first year of the current Council of Ministers, Wever compared the situation to buying a fixer upper house. “You can tell people you bought a house, but it takes a while to get the house back together,” he said.

Wever explained that serving as an MP is a very different experience from being a minister with a full ministry behind you.

“As a minister you have a whole ministry that has been doing things. As a Member of Parliament, it is your vision, what you want to do, what you want to execute, and you have to do that with a very small staff,” he said, noting that he currently has only two staff members supporting his faction.

He reminded the public that changing laws is a long process. “To change a law takes a minimum of two years,” Wever said, adding that he is working on several initiatives at the same time, including some “low hanging fruit” that he hopes can be tackled sooner.

Key initiatives

One of Wever’s main priorities is the creation of a sexual predators list, particularly aimed at protecting children in the education system. Drawing on his background as a social worker with the Catholic school board, he said he has heard and seen too many stories of abuse.

“These are things that have been going on since we were going to school,” he said. “It needs to be public information when we look to hire teachers and persons in the educational field, so we can prevent these acts from happening to our children.”

Wever acknowledged that St. Maarten is a small community, so the system cannot copy everything done in larger countries, but he stressed that some type of public mechanism is needed for screening and protecting students.

He also emphasized his focus on special needs education and performing arts. He is advocating for better funding structures for special needs organizations and a Performing Arts Center.

Wever said he has already discussed with the Minister of Finance how to reduce the tax burden on entities that work with special needs children. The idea is that money saved on taxes can be redirected to hire specialized teachers and provide needed services.

When it comes to performing arts, Wever spoke from personal experience. His children are active in music, and he has been involved in backstage work and community arts long before entering politics.

“We need a home for them,” he said, referring to orchestras, performers and young talent on the island. He argued that investment in arts and sports has long term benefits, pointing to Curaçao’s current success in football as an example of how structured development can pay off years later.

View of the coalition government: “a fixer upper” and a grade of 7

Looking back at the first year of the current Council of Ministers, Wever compared the situation to buying a fixer upper house.

“You can tell people you bought a house, but it takes a while to get the house back together,” he said. He described years of neglect in different ministries and said much of the work now is not always visible to the public because it is in the paperwork, procedures and internal systems that need to be corrected.

Wever noted that, unlike in some past governments, there have been no Ombudsman reports against ministers from this Council and no major investigations surrounding them. He sees that as a positive sign but stressed that the work is far from finished.

Asked to respond to an opposition MP who recently gave the government an “F 3 out of 10,” Wever said he understood that point of view from an opposition role but offered a different assessment.

“I will be fair. I give it between a 7 and 8,” he said. He admitted that people in the community are hurting and will continue to hurt for a while, but insisted that work is being done in the background. He wants to see progress move the grade closer to 8 in the coming year, while warning that failure to deliver could drop the grade to 6.

Parliament work, transparency and political culture

Wever spoke about his efforts to work across party lines and change how St. Maarten’s MPs communicate with the public. During trips abroad, especially to Parlatino meetings, he has started recording short videos and sharing updates so people at home know what MPs are doing.

He said that when he travels with other MPs, whether coalition or opposition, he often proposes joint press releases. “When we are abroad, it is not about opposition and coalition, we are there as one front,” he said.

Wever also pushed back against the narrative that there are not enough parliamentary meetings. He believes that, compared to the past, more meetings are being called and there is less “old politics” such as refusing to sign in to block quorum. He pointed to the growing use of Question Hour as a positive development.

At the same time, he called on the public to follow all meetings, not only those filled with controversy. “When there is a big scandal, everybody is watching, but normally maybe only around 50 people are viewing. To really be informed, people have to follow all the meetings and listen carefully to what is being said,” he said.

Traffic, water taxis and public service culture

Reflecting on his time as Minister of VROMI, Wever spoke about the clean up campaigns and the discussions around using water taxis as an alternative way to reduce traffic congestion, especially with cruise operations and possible home porting.

He explained that with multiple ships in port, traffic can be “horrible” and that alternative routes, including water transport between the airport and Philipsburg, should be developed. He said he is pleased that the current VROMI minister is still looking at a pier project for water taxis as an option to help ease congestion.

On internal government operations, Wever praised many civil servants but did not ignore the challenges. He pointed out that some staff are still “stuck in their old ways” and that this mindset can hamper progress. Changing that culture is difficult because senior officials know ministers are temporary and because there are procedures that prevent simply removing staff.

Seniors, social support and The Wever Works Foundation

Looking ahead, Wever said there are several “quick wins” he wants to see government tackle. One is examining how to relieve seniors of paying tax on their pensions. He plans to discuss this with the relevant ministers as a targeted way to support senior citizens.

He also wants to see more efficient support to families in need, especially those caring for special needs children, and to hold garbage contractors more accountable for service delivery and cleanliness.

Wever underlined that his commitment to social work did not start with his election. Through his foundation, The Wever Works, he has been organizing Christmas “gift back” programs for several years, including turkey distributions and food vouchers, as well as back to school drives.

He said he wants to improve coordination among organizations that give school supplies so that resources are spread fairly and duplication is reduced. His long term dream is that after three terms in politics, if the voters allow it, he will step back and focus fully on his foundation and mentoring the next generation of leaders.

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