Philipsburg:--- Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles Emile de Jhong Elhage were among the dignitaries at the Government Administration Building on Tuesday to witness the official handing over of the first batch of federal government tasks to the island territory of St. Maarten. The tasks transferred on Tuesday are that of Health, Social Development, Social Security, Labour and Education, Sports and Youth Affairs.In her speech Prime Minister Elhage said the transfer symbolizes the beginning of the end of the Netherlands Antilles and the start of new country St. Maarten. The islands she said have reached a point of no return.
Elhage said it should be noted that the central government is passing the torch to soon to be country St Maarten, since 10 years ago the people of St. Maarten expressed their wishes in the referendum for a constitutional change. She said the central government respects the choice of the people of St. Maarten and has committed itself to facilitate the process, even though there were set backs, discussions and distractions which sometimes made the goal overwhelming due to the complexity.
The Prime Minister said just days ago the second chamber of the Dutch Parliament approved the Consensus Kingdom laws and the changes to the Kingdom Charter that would allow St. Maarten and Curacao to become countries within the Kingdom.
Using a quote of President John F Kennedy who once said "we should never negotiate out of fear or fear to negotiate" no matter how impossible or unattainable the goal sometimes seemed. The Prime Minister said during the years the central government and the island territories worked together they remained focused because the people are counting on them, and as such their voices are the driving force behind the constitutional train. "One thing for sure those working on the process came to realize is that working together and perseverance leads to success" she said.
Reminding the audience that while this is the first step in the new beginning, she said there is still a lot of work that still has to be done to build the friendly island nation.
The Prime Minister also acknowledged that everything would not be in place by 10.10.10 neither the first 100 days after but the islands has reached a point of no return and those in charge must continue to plant so the people could reap the harvest. She said it takes courage to think big, aim high and shoot far while those that never start are destined to lose.
While leader of government William Marlin warned that St. Maarten has a lot of work to do he said the process now taking place is similar to the Olympic games since every day new records are set and old records are broken, and even though St. Maarten is not breaking records they are living in the days of history.
Marlin said not long ago there were those that thought that the date 10.10.10 was not going to be realized and those that thought that becoming country on October 10 2010 would not be possible. He said the transfer of tasks showed that the Netherlands Antilles are gradually being dismantled while country St. Maarten is being built and that the events on Tuesday's transfer can be considered as placing the first corner stones in the foundation of what will become country St Maarten.
Marlin also expressed gratitude to the committee charged with the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles, civil servants and those persons who worked on getting the transfer possible.
Marlin also again explained that the process taking place currently is different and would be difficult for St. Maarten since the island has to build its institutions and organizations from ground zero. He said the Dutch has taken full responsibility for what will be needed for the BES islands and Curacao has all the necessary organs in place.
Minister of Constitutional Affairs Roland Duncan said while the tasks are now transferred to St. Maarten the central government will still be responsible for the civil servants, salaries and promotions. Also unchangeable are the laws governing the civil servants, Duncan said. He made clear that while working on the process he made sure the civil servants are taken care of, and as such they are only going to be sent on assignment which is to take instructions from the executive council of St. Maarten until St. Maarten achieves its country status.
The Minister said the federal law that governs the civil servants will remain in effect. He also said in principle the duties of these civil servants will not be changed but their scope of work can broaden. The intention Duncan said is for the central government to acquit itself of these responsibilities when St. Maarten becomes country.
The Minister called on the civil servants to carry out their tasks and to even work harder as they would be building of a new country. The Minister also made a symbolic hand over of the civil servants to leader of Government William Marlin.
Commissioner Hyacinth Richardson who holds most of the portfolios under which the tasks fell said the Minister of Constitutional Affairs, the Prime Minister and sector VSA has worked closely and diligently to ensure that the transfer takes place in an efficient manner. Richardson also pledged to continue working closely with VSA to prepare the portfolios for country St. Maarten.
Richardson said the island government has established eight organizational entities in the sector VSA, which are three policy departments for Public Health, Social Development and Labour, one supervisory agency and five executing agencies. He described the executing agencies as the ambulance services, community development, social services and labour, and collective prevention.
The labour commissioner also called on the 110 staff members that are now going to work for the island government of St. Maarten to have one common goal which is to work in a professional manner in the interest to enhance the services they provide. Richardson said the island government has set some priorities for the future VSA in the areas of social security reform, expanding social and community services and a review of the labour laws within the context of sustainable development. The labour commissioner also indicated that at least 10-15 new staff members are currently being recruited which he believes would be able to implement the necessary changes.
After the official signing the dignitaries as well as several civil servants who were present in the tribune of the Government Administrative Building joined the dignitaries at the Sheer restaurant for moment of celebration.