Sarah shows up hour late,
has steering group waiting
DAWN BEACH--The first day of the Kingdom political steering group meeting started an hour and fifteen minutes late. Host St. Maarten, read Constitutional Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams, showed up late.
The meeting was scheduled to start at 2:00pm, but Wescot-Williams did not appear till almost 3:00pm. At 2:45pm Prime Minister Emily De Jongh-Elhage had to adjourn for 30 minutes because everyone was in the meeting room just waiting for Wescot-Williams to arrive.
The Commissioner also missed the signing of the decision list on the phased dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles earlier in the day. The signing was postponed, again, till today, Wednesday, at 10:00am.
Wescot-Williams apologised for being late, saying in her opening statement that while racing towards The Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Resort and Spa, she had thought that the meetings of the Kingdom political steering group normally took a little while to begin. However, she was satisfied that the meetings started on time in St. Maarten.
The reason she gave for being late was the traffic she had encountered on her way to the hotel. The other delegations were not convinced about her explanation and were somewhat irritated by the delay.
Dutch State Secretary Ank Bijleveld-Schouten complained that it had taken long before the meeting could start. She pointed out that it was an important meeting before the Round Table Conference scheduled for December 15.
She was mildly positive that agreements could be reached during the two days on the Consensus Kingdom Laws on financial supervision and police, as well as on a joint Central Bank for Curaçao and St. Maarten. “I don’t want to leave without finalising all the laws as agreed to in the November 2, 2006, Accord,” she said.
Wescot-Williams also hoped for conclusive steps after the meetings finalise today, Wednesday. “The main lines for the Consensus Kingdom Laws on police and financial supervision were agreed to on October 1 and it’s about working them out,” she said.
The Commissioner was also positive that an agreement would be reached on a joint Central Bank for Curaçao and St. Maarten, as the positions of the islands on the matter were very close.
Antillean Prime Minister Emily de Jongh-Elhage officially opened the meeting pointing out that it was the last meeting before the RTC and therefore an important step towards status change for the islands. She expected intense discussions, but was confident positive results would be reached.
The RTC will be a vetting conference for all Consensus Kingdom Laws, the constitution and organic laws of the islands.
