Standing Ovation and Welcome Given To William Marlin for Bringing Home Country Status.

Fellow St. Maarteners, residents of St. Maarten, friends,

On April 23rd, when the delegation returned from the Hague, I stood right here to address you, and at that time I said to you, ain't no stopping us now, we're on the move. But today, I stand before you, filled with joy, but yet humbled, and say to you: Mission Accomplished; St. Maarten will become country on 10-10-10. Another promise made, another promise kept!

Yesterday, September 9th, 2010 together with other representatives of all the Kingdom partners I signed on your behalf, the decisions of the Round Table Conference held that same day in The Hague. At that historic Round table Conference it was agreed upon and signed off on, that St. Maarten will become country on 10-10-10, October 10th, exactly one month from today.

Ten years ago they said it could not be done! Some thought it could not happen. Others didn't want it to happen. Some jumped off the train, before it even got moving, while others jumped off the train, saying 10-10-10 was not attainable! We have proved them all wrong!

Reality had always been that you the people had spoken loud and clear on June 23rd, 2000, just over 10 years ago, and we the leaders were given a mandate. A mandate to take St. Maarten out of the Netherlands Antilles and establish the autonomous country in the Kingdom – St. Maarten.

We, the political leaders of 10 years ago, the late Vance James Jr, Mrs. Sarah Wescott-Williams and your humble servant, William Marlin, had our work cut out to lead you the people to destination country St. Maarten.
Our dear brother, Vance James, did not see the promise land. In loving memory of him, I propose we hold a moment of silence.

Immediately, a work group constitutional affairs was established, several sub-groups made up of technical advisors appointed. The political steering group, made up of all the political leaders and the Permanent Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the Island Council made up of all 11 Members was also established.

It was all hands on deck. We predicted that it won't be easy, but we also said that we won't give up. But we also, never expected it to take 10 long years, but it did. It was a rough journey, but I never lost faith, I never turned my back on you, and was there at every meeting to speak up and defend our case.

When others thought it could not be done because the Dutch was constantly moving the goal posts, I stood alone in The Hague, backed by our advisors, and defended you the people of St. Maarten before the Dutch Second Chamber. And yes, I was able to convince them that their perception of St. Maarten was a wrong one.

I convinced them, that we were ready to become country and take on the responsibilities previously held by the Central Government on Curacao. We were ready to run our own affairs.

So, history was made, and will be made again, one month from today when we swear in the first Parliament of St. Maarten, with its own Chairman of Parliament elected from among the 15 Members of Parliament. History will also be made one month from today, when we swear in the first Council of Ministers and the first Prime Minister, when we have the swearing in of the first governor of St. Maarten, Drs. Eugene Holiday.

We will also have our first Council of Advice, headed by Mrs. Mavis Brooks-Salmon, and our first Audit Chamber, headed by Roland Tuitt. Yes, history will be made! But what will all of this mean for you the people of St. Maarten. How will you benefit from all this history making?

On October 10th, 2010 St. Maarten will become like a new born baby, but must also be ready to take on the responsibilities of an adult. And it cannot be left up to our leaders alone, to raise the new born St. Maarten.

We must all contribute, we must all ad our block, no matter how little it may be, or appear to be, towards the building of our new nation. A nation for the next generations to inherit.

Yesterday, after the signing of the Round Table Conference resolutions, I presented on behalf of the people of St. Maarten an English copy of the Constitution of Country Sint Maarten, to the chairman of the Round Table Conference, Prime Minister Balkenende, to the Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, to the State Secretary Bijleveld, and to every delegation leader at the Conference and to several top advisors, from the Netherlands Antilles, the Netherlands, Aruba, Curacao and St. Maarten, who have played a role, some of them for the past 10 years, in helping guide this process to a successful end.

The constitution of Country Sint Maarten, unanimously approved by all 11 Members of the Island Council of Sint Maarten was drafted 8 years ago. It had been discussed at several public hearings and workshops and in meetings of the political steering groups and in the Central Committee of St. Maarten.

In 2008 the draft constitution was sent to the Vetting Committee, without any mention of the St. Maartener.

During the recent Central Committee meeting, we all acknowledged that no mention was ever made in the constitution, of who is a St. Maartener, not 8 years ago, not 6 nor 4 years ago and neither in the draft I met a year and 3 months ago when I took over as Constitutional Affairs Commissioner.

And during the last debate held in the Central Committee several weeks ago, just days before all 11 Members of the Island Council voted to approve the Constitution as it is today, it was agreed upon that one of the first orders of the first Parliament of St. Maarten, would be to establish once and for all who a St. Maartener is and take this up in our constitution.

I call on all St. Maarteners, those born here, those whose parents, grandparents or great grandparents were born here, and all other citizens and residents of St. Maarten, to embrace our constitution and live by it, day by day, step by step, and we will together move forward, and build St. Maarten into the strong nation we all dream of it to be.

The preamble of our Constitution reads:

We the people of St. Maarten

Confirming that we recognize the guiding principles of the Almighty God as the core of our values;

Inspired by the exercise of our universal right to self-determination as manifested in the referendum of June 23rd, 2000, when we freely opted for the status of country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands;

Being determined to work with each other, with our partners in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with our neighbours in French Saint Martin and with all peoples of the world on the basis of freedom, equality, peaceful coexistence and international solidarity;

Declare that we are a people that believes in the principles of democracy, the rule of law, the principles of separation of powers, the dignity and value of the individual, and the entitlement of all individuals to the fundamental rights of freedoms;

Being determined to care for the perpetual maintenance of nature and the environment;

Declare that we wish to create a constitutional order based on an open and approachable government;

And therefore, in order to record these objectives and convictions, the following provisions shall enjoy the force of law as the Constitution of Sint Maarten.

Chapter 2 of our Constitution lists the fundamental rights of the people of St. Maarten, including the Freedoms, Equality, Solidarity, Citizenship and the Administration of Justice.

This is the constitution we must all live by and abide to. And once that happens, we will create the Country St. Maarten, we all dream of. But in order to achieve this, we must believe in the Constitution of Country St. Maarten and live by it.

Fellow St. Maartiners, residents of St. Maarten, friends,

Exactly one week from today, the voters of St. Maarten will be called upon to go to the polls to elect those persons who will serve as the first 15 Members of the Parliament of Country St. Maarten, who will support the first Government – the first Council of Ministers of St. Maarten.
And therefore, for just one more week, it will look like St. Maarten is divided, but we are not. We may have our political differences, which may continue to exist for years to come.
But as soon as the polls are closed on Friday Sept. 10th, we must burry our political hatchets.
I call on all leaders, to put aside our differences on October 11th, 2010, and rally round the common cause we have been struggling for all these years. This is the time to remember that we are in this together – no matter what option you voted for or what party you support.
This is the time to really put St. Maarten first – Country above self - and demonstrate our love for our island by standing shoulder to shoulder to complete this project of building our new nation – St. Maarten.

We have our work cut out for us. There's still a lot to be done. We have new structures to build and new institutions to develop, institutions that we have never had before. We have to continue to increase and improve our human resource capacity at every level. We have to prove to ourselves that we are capable of building a modern, responsible and responsive democracy.
We have come very far; we have traveled for over 10 years now, on this long and winding road, but we are not altogether there as yet. All of us must redouble our efforts to reach the destination we all have been clamoring for, for so long.
10-10-10, When we become country, is not the final destination. 10-10-10 Is a New Beginning.
We have laid the foundation for what we believe and desire to be - a strong, virile, progressive and new Caribbean nation, home to a free, God-fearing, hard working, enterprising, resilient and proud people. It is a well-known fact, that the stronger and deeper the foundation, the higher the building can rise.
The day, has already arrived when the government of St. Maarten will respect its people and be proud of its people and the people will respect their government, and be proud of their government.
We are poised at the gates of a new day that is about to dawn. But make no mistake about it; the thrill of victory we all share now is only a signal for greater commitment, dedication, and determination to the cause, a cause that is greater than any one of us.
Each victory, each step forward, is meant to actually encourage us to give our all - for the sake and benefit of St. Maarten, until the ultimate glory is achieved.
October 10, 2010 is just one month away, and yes together we will march through the gates of the promised land. But we cannot stop there, the journey is not complete unless, all of us, the government and the people, work together, hand in hand to live our Constitution, each and every article of it.
We must all ensure that:

• The hopes dreams and aspirations of all are realized
• Constitutional human rights and privileges are guaranteed, respected and protected under the law
• Our institutions of democracy are jealously guarded
• The governed and our government respect the law
• We enjoy personal safety and public peace and order
• We enjoy the right to secure work in safe conditions, on fair terms, and for just reward
• We enjoy liberty, equal opportunity and equal justice
• The human dignity and self respect of all is honoured
• Our young people enjoy opportunities for growth, prosperity and individual achievement
• Our natural resources are resolutely protected
• We respect, celebrate and find strength in our cultural heritage and in our religious diversity
• We protect our children, respect our women, venerate our elderly and care for our vulnerable
• All enjoy access to premium education, fulfilling employment, adequate and affordable housing, quality health care, effective police services, compassionate public assistance and people-based policies that propel total development, without exclusion
• We make St. Maarten an intelligent island, technologically driven and a centre of excellence in education and new media
• St. Maarten is a preferred, year round tourism destination and international travel and transport hub, and shopping Mecca, where
• St. Maarteners are involved in and benefit from all sectors
• St. Maarten is a society of ever increasing prosperity for all who want to work

Government cannot do it alone, we need all hands on deck! I therefore, take this opportunity to urge all of you, all of us, civil society and civil servants, elected and appointed officials in government, the private and public sectors, laymen and clergy, young and old, those who were born here, those who were brought here and those who have chosen to come here, to join hands together in this undertaking.
And yes, it is only when we all move Forward Together and work together, respecting each other, we will be able to really reach the promised land of Country St. Maarten.
Fellow St. Maarteners, Residents of St. Maarten, friends,
It will be remiss of me again if I do not single out the outstanding and selfless contributions of people such as Dennis Richardson, Drs. Eugene Holiday, Island Secretary Joane Dovale-Meit, former Minister of Constitutional Affairs, attorney Richard Gibson, who will go down in history as the Man who got the Constitutional Train moving when the National Alliance appointed him as Minister in 2005, also our present Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles and Minister of Constitutional Affairs, Roland Duncan, and several others in getting us to the gates of the promised, which will be thrown wide open for all of us to step in, as we step out of the Netherlands Antilles and embark on the journey of a New Beginning as Country Sint Maarten.
It is an honor and a privilege to have worked with you and I look forward to continuing on the same path of hard work and unselfish service to St. Maarten, with all of you.
Congratulations once again to Mr. Eugene Holiday, who has been appointed to take up office as the first Governor of Country Sint Maarten. Congratulations also to Dennis Richardson, who was recently appointed by the Island Council to serve as one of the first Members of the Council of Advice for Country Sint Maarten.
After the return of the delegation from The Hague on April 23rd, Dennis Richardson was not with us when we celebrated in this Hall, as he was still in a hospital in Colombia getting treatment following an accident he had on Holy Thursday, 3 days before, a small but determined delegation, consisting of Eugene Holiday, Richard Gibson and my person left for The Hague to take on the Dutch 2nd Chamber, during the debate on the Consensus Kingdom Laws.
And today again, Dennis could not be with us; this time he had to stay on in The Netherlands to undergo some medical tests and exams because of his April accident. Dennis, the thoughts and prayers of all the people of St. Maarten are with you, and all of us look forward to welcoming you back home soon.
In closing, I want to once again publicly thank, on behalf of the people and Government of St. Maarten, all civil servants, particularly those who work in the Secretariat for their hard work and dedication the past two months. Without their support, working long hours, seven days a week, even until 3:30 one day.
And on the day Hurricane Earl passed St. Maarten, these young women were out by 2 in the afternoon to continue working for their country, leaving their homes and family behind, some of them without water and or electricity.
Thank you, Cassandra, thank you Angelique, thank you , thank you thank you , thank you , thank you.

A big thank you also to the legal experts, Robert Vennix and Iliana Pasman-Schotborg who put in days of long hours to finalize the Constitution of St. Maarten and all the Organic Laws and Legislation needed for us to pass the Kingdom Test to become Country.
Let us be grateful to the Almighty for allowing us to reach this milestone, and pray that he will continue to crown our efforts with success. Indeed, with God on our side, we shall continue to move forward together to 10-10-10, to Country St. Maarten, to the Dawn of a New Beginning.
God bless St. Maarten.
It is now my distinct pleasure and honour to call on the members of the Island Council and Executive Council to accept a hard copy of the English translation of the Constitution of Country St. Maarten.
Council Lady Wescott-Williams and Councilman Rodolphe Samuel received their copy in The Hague during the Round Table Conference on Thursday.