~ Party rift over a preferred candidate Minister, Peggy Ann Dros Richardson being pushed aside for Jorien Wuite~
PHILIPSBURG: --- A rift within the United Democrats is widening when it comes to the selection of candidate Minister to fill the vacant seat left by ousted Minister Emil Lee at the Ministry of VSA.
SMN News learned that most Members of Parliament from the current coalition United Democrats and the St. Maarten Christian Party (UD/SMCP) believes that the current head of the Department of Labor Peggy Ann Richardson Dros is the best and most qualified candidate for the position. However, party leader Sarah Wescott Williams is not in agreement as she wants to appoint one of two persons that ran on the Democratic Party slate.
Sources within the coalition said that Wescott Williams wants to bring back Minister of Plenipotentiary Jorien Wuite from the Netherlands to fill the vacant seat in the Council of Ministers or either appoint the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of USZV Reginald Williamsburg to the coveted seat. Wuite was an interim Minister of EYS during 2018 prior to Minister Wycliffe Smith being appointed.
However, Peggy Ann Richardson- Dros is a more qualified candidate as she worked at the Department of Labor for nine years as head of the department, two years at the Department of Personnel Affairs, and was also the Human Resource Manager at the Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (RBTT).
Besides working for the Government of St. Maarten for several years, Richardson Dros has vast experience in Hospitality and Labor Affairs as she managed several hotels in St. Maarten prior to working for the Government of St. Maarten. Richardson Dros was born on St. Maarten, she attended Milton Pieters College, while she obtained her bachelors and master’s degrees in psychology in the United States.
SMN News learned that Wescott Williams is against Dros Richardson because she is afraid that if appointed, she will unearth all the illegal decisions taken by DP Minister Emil Lee who held the position for four years.
According to information provided to SMN News, it is the intention of Richardson Dros to order and operational audit of SZV since several MPs from the Parliament of St. Maarten expressed concerns over the mismanagement of funds managed by SZV.
It is not yet clear if the MP’s from the coalition will buckle to the wishes of the now UD leader or if they will continue to push for the candidate that is more qualified and experienced or if they would buckle to the pressures of Wescott Williams.
In the meantime, the screening for the Minister of VROMI has begun as Chris Weaver was selected.
