Duncan to transfer files,
appoint senior officer
~ Says Govt acting like ‘a little rich kid’ ~
PHILIPSBURG--Constitutional Affairs Minister Roland Duncan says he will be appointing a senior personnel functionary stationed in St. Maarten to deal with the transfer of information to the Island Governments of Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten. He says he will also be transferring, physically, all the relevant files from Curaçao to St. Maarten.
In a press briefing on Friday, Duncan refuted allegations that he was playing politics with regard to providing St. Maarten with information about Central Government employees. He said he was seeking legal advice to ensure that he adhered to the law.
Against this backdrop, he will appoint a senior personnel functionary to deal directly with the process of providing information.
Duncan criticised the Island Government of St. Maarten for not participating in the ongoing process set in the dismantling committee of the Netherlands Antilles of which St. Maarten is a part.
The Minister also accused St. Maarten of being conceited and of acting like “a little rich kid,” giving money to consultancy bureau KPMG to ask “stupid questions.”
“St. Maarten should send personnel to that committee so they could get all information and know what part they can transfer. I will be pleased to assist them, free of charge, in setting up the merger. I have civil servants in my department busy with Curaçao setting up the same merger free of charge,” Duncan said.
He said that unlike St. Maarten, the Curaçao government had formally requested the assistance of the Central Government in personnel matters since Richard Gibson was the minister. That, he added, was one reason Curaçao was at a more advanced stage in the process of knowing what the government structure of country Curaçao would be and how many formation places would be available. “That’s why Curaçao knows how many people will be out of a job,” Duncan said.
He said he was disappointed with the attitude of the Island Government of St. Maarten. “St. Maarten confirmed its participation in the committee. There are means of dialogue to transfer and effectuate the transfer of personnel of every single department. The committee is functioning and St. Maarten does not participate, but goes outside the committee and decides it wants something different.”
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