The Minister of Overseas Territories was on an official visit to Saint-Martin on April 13 and 14. Daniel Gibbs waited until Thursday, April 18 to take stock of this visit. "I would say that a new State / COM partnership, more oriented towards future projects, seems to be taking shape" he declared during a press conference.
• Educational institutions
The purpose of the work meeting on Saturday April 13 at the port of Galisbay was to discuss the priority files of the community. In particular the reconstruction of schools and the funding of this work, in particular through the European Union Solidarity Fund (FSUE). The Minister announced that she was in favor of leaving Saint Martin an exclusive "drawing right" on the FSUE, until August 31, 2019. The COM wins a few months over the initial deadline scheduled for December 31, 2018, then extended to 30 June. This postponement will allow him to carry out part of the investments on the reconstruction of schools during the summer holidays, in July and August.
State financial aid for the operation of the COM
The COM reports that Annick Girardin, “believes that an amendment to the protocol signed in November 2017 could be ratified to help it compensate for the loss of 25 million on the exceptional operating allocation of 2018 and accelerate reconstruction: an important decision for the still very fragile financial equilibrium of the community. ”The Collectivity will thus have to work in concert with the Prefect Sylvie Feucher and her teams to jointly implement this financial revision of the budget of the COM.
• Aid for economic development
"The Minister reiterated the State's desire to support us on investment projects, up to the community to present development projects" continued the President. “On this point, several projects were budgeted and presented to our fellow citizens last January. »He continued, citing the development of the road network on rue de Hollande and the burying of networks, the development of Carbets d'Orient Bay, the development of the new Place du Marché in Marigot, and repair of the Marina Port la Royale. “The Minister confirmed that we 'lost' € 25 million in 2018, but the good news is that for 2019 - and also 2020 and 2021 - the envelopes will be available to help us and support our projects. investment. It's up to us to set up a strong administration to manage the operations. " he added.
• Taxes
“The financial health of the community is still fragile. We still have a gap of more than 30 million euros compared to revenues before Irma, "said Daniel Gibbs.
He announced that a tax reform was underway. The community asked for a strong involvement of the Bercy services to support it in the implementation of this reform which should take effect in 2020.
(More details on www.soualigapost.com)
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