PHILIPSBURG--Independent Island Councilman Louie Laveist has queried why salaries of St. Maarten Island Council members will only be determined when the new and expanded council is elected and not immediately as is the case with the BES islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba.

The "Duncan Law," an amendment to the Islands Regulation ERNA adopted by the Antillean Parliament Wednesday, makes it possible for the BES islands to determine immediately, via an Island Resolution, the salaries and benefits for their council members.

This is not immediate for St. Maarten, but no explanation was given about why the differentiation was made.

Laveist said the battle for equality in salaries for council members in St. Maarten had been waged for years and an adjustment to the Duncan Law was "an opportunity to right a wrong."

National Alliance (NA) Parliamentarians George Pantophlet and Rodolphe Samuel had tabled the addition to allow the islands instead of the Central Government/Parliament to regulate the pay of their council members.

Island Council membership is deemed part-time and members receive only a stipend for their time. In future country status, St. Maarten's council will become Parliament and membership will be fulltime.

The regulation of salaries was to be a measure to regulate already the salaries/benefits. Curaçao is the only island of the Netherlands Antilles with salaried Island Council members. This has long been considered an inequality by St. Maarten and BES members. It was also an area that Laveist, as a parliamentarian in the early 2000s, had fought extensively to correct.

Laveist asked the NA-led government, which he supports, to provide a copy of the Duncan Law and the amendment as tabled by Pantophlet and Samuel. The request is "purely for information" and is not a signal of any rift between him and government.

"I want to know what the thought is on St. Maarten members having to wait until a new Island Council is elected," Laveist said.

From perusing the law and the motion tabled by the NA parliamentarians, Laveist hopes to find a way to still correct this "inequality" so the salaries can be acted on now by the Island Council.

The Duncan Law makes it possible for the dissolution of the Island Councils of St. Maarten and Curaçao, and early elections. The law also allows for the expansion of St. Maarten's Island Council from 11 to 15 members, and the Executive Council from five to seven commissioners, in preparation for country status.

It is up to the Executive Council to call elections for the Island Council. The current term of the Island Council is slated to end in June 2011.