Philipsburg:--- The office of the Ombudsman of St. Maarten will resume taking complaints from the public as of April 1st, 2012 announced Ombudsman Nilda Arduin Lynch at a press conference on Monday. Arduin Lynch also gave reporters a tour of her office which is fully furnished and almost fully equipped with the necessary tools and materials for them to function optimally. Arduin Lynch said she is expecting another lawyer to join her team of staff as of March 1st, 2012, however, the office of the Ombudsman still needs one more senior legal adviser. The Ombudsman said her office made much progress during the months of November and December 2011. She said besides the much needed furniture a server was installed and computer software was tested and is being used on a trial basis. The office of the Ombudsman managed to make the necessary arrangements with the National Ombudsman in the Netherlands to provide training and support for the complaint officers for a period of six months starting March 1st, 2012, while two of the staff from the Ombudsman office is currently taking some courses to upgrade their Dutch in administrative law.The Ombudsman will be traveling to the Netherlands to meet with the National Ombudsman where she will finalize the arrangements for the detache who will be supporting her bureau for a period of six months. During the trip, the Ombudsman will meet with the Ombudsman of Curacao to discuss the software operation and the complaint registration system that is currently being tested.
Since the installation of the Ombudsman Bureau on St. Maarten some 112 complaints were filed, 28 of which were civil cases. The bureau has completed 29 of the complaints filed while they intend to finalize 52 of them by the end of March. Of the 112 complaints filed the Ombudsman was not authorized to investigate two of them, while the Ombudsman initiated one of the investigations regarding the Kadastre's office.
St. Maarten's Ombudsman Nilda Arduin Lynch also presented the handbook she put together on how the Ombudsman will function. The handbook she said will be at the library for everyone to peruse and make their comments. A copy of the handbook will be presented to the Governor, Prime Minister, and the President of Parliament at a later date.
