Yesterday's meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament featuring a session with the Mental Health Foundation brought the curtains down on one of the most intense and enlightening weeks to date in the short history of Country St. Maarten's Parliament.

It has become very evident though that the United People's (UP) party is wrestling with exactly what to do about the Jules James conflict-of-interest imbroglio. And, as though that isn't enough for the young party to handle, it also seems be at its wits end trying to understand its youthful parliamentary group leader MP Romain Laville who says he has been having "some issues" with his party colleagues, and who has been staying away from meetings of Parliament as he tries to "think matters through."

Regrettably, the fundamental issues affecting the former Pelican workers remain largely unaddressed and there is still no clear indication that the MPs are about to address them in a resolute manner.

The past week in Parliament also brought to light a major booboo by the National Alliance. It really went shopping for a minister in the person of Theo Heyliger and ended up being presented with the representative of the GEBE Shareholding Foundation. It was an uncanny case of "be careful what you ask for, lest you get it."

In the end, while all ears were hoping to hear Minister Heyliger discuss GEBE's lucrative fuel clause fiasco and other matters pertaining to GEBE, including the minister's personal foray into the production of clean energy with the erecting of a wind turbine on his Guana Bay property, the day's sitting ended in an anticlimax with Opposition MPs and the President of Parliament locking horns over the (mis)interpretation of the Rules of Order.

While the National Alliance could have done absolutely nothing about the President's ruling not to postpone the closure of the first round of discussions on the GEBE issue to allow the Minister to address the several important questions and issues raised, there still must be avenues open to the opposition to insist that he be made to account to the people for GEBE's performance.

While the controversial issues of a party political nature played out themselves during the early part of the week, the second half belonged to the several NGOs whose representatives provided important insights into problems and issues of concern to environmentalists, animal lovers and those who care for the mentally ill.

It is evident from these hearings that St. Maarten is blessed with a number of people who care for St. Maarten with a deep passion and who are doing tremendous selfless jobs for which they should be highly commended. It is also evident that there is a lot of work to be done to arrest the continued despoiling of the environment, to protect the mental health of the nation, and to ensure that there is respect and adequate protection for all animals.

At all of the sessions this week, the loudest pleas were for our MPs to bestir themselves and pass new and relevant laws. It would be an unpardonable sin if these pleas were to fall on deaf ears.