PHILIPSBURG--Independent Member of Parliament Frans Richardson on Wednesday questioned why government would reportedly abandon St. Maarten's re-branding campaign after just two years and millions invested.

Richardson was speaking during the budget debate in the Central Committee meeting of Parliament.

As reported on Tuesday, government is looking to either revert to the themes that were used to market St. Maarten prior to 2009 and/or combine those themes with the new marketing approach launched in 2009. The latter makes use of misspelled adjectives deriving from the double A (so AA) in the Dutch spelling of St. Maarten.

Richardson said he simply wanted answers as to why the change is considered necessary and said he would support the change if government can show that its intentions can effectively drive and increase the tourism market of St. Maarten.

"What is the vision and tourism strategy for country St. Maarten?" Richardson asked.