Leader of Government Commissioner William Marlin told The Daily Herald that there is now more understanding for St. Maarten's unique position because, unlike Curaçao, it will not inherit much of the infrastructure from the Central Government.
Marlin met with Dutch State Secretary for Internal Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten and Prime Minister Emily de Jongh-Elhage on the matter of assistance promised on Wednesday evening but not much was decided until Thursday during one of the breaks in the political steering group talks in the World Trade Center, Curaçao.
A list of areas in which St. Maarten will require Dutch help has been drafted based on the June 24, 2009 assistance agreement between St. Maarten and the Dutch Government. However, the Dutch need more clarity on the "scope of the assistance" required by St. Maarten, thus the formation of the committee that will comprise representatives of both partners.
The committee, according to Marlin, will "outline the priorities and figure out how to proceed" with the assistance needed.
The committee will not be presenting any report in the coming weeks because it is expected that from their findings, the necessary assistance will be clearly outlined so it can be rendered to St. Maarten without delay.
Readiness
Marlin is confident that the process will now accelerate to the point where the needs on paper are met with tangible help, because St. Maarten will not be able to have all departments and agencies associated with a fully fledged country ready in time for 10-10-10, the date for country status.
Marlin said areas such as Maritime Affairs Department will not be established on St. Maarten as it is in the Netherlands Antilles. Instead, someone in government will be tasked with overseeing that maritime affairs services are provided adequately by the company or entity it is outsourced to based on a service level agreement.
Unlike maritime affairs, where the island will get the responsibility but outsource to work, St. Maarten is almost ready to accept the responsibility for and to carry out the task of Public Health, the commissioner said. "Everything is almost in place to take over this responsibility."
Similarly, St. Maarten is wasting no time in the establishment of its Security Service although this is one task that will only come to the island at the very end of the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles and the birth of country St. Maarten. Three people have already been identified within the Antilles service and outside of it to be part of St. Maarten service in October.
The Education Department is also readying for the take-on of additional responsibility, according to Marlin. Two education inspectors and three officers for compulsory education have been employed by the island.
