Government

PARLIAMENT

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PARLIAMENT BUILDING NOT READY, FIRST PARLIAMENT MEETING POSTPONED

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GREAT BAY, The President of Parliament, Gracita Arrindell, has shifted the first working meetings of Parliament to the first week of November. She was hoping to convene meetings beginning in the week of October 25, but decided on the delady after the contractor at the new Parliament Building on Front Street advised her the meeting room would not be ready. Also not ready are the offices of the MPs and the space for the Parliamentary Secretariat.

Work to prepare that room has been made a priority, but it was still not enough to get the room ready. If it had been, Members of Parliament would have begun their work by adopting the Rules of Order and installing the committees of Parliament. Those committees will mirror the seven ministries. Also to be handled are the credentials for three new members of Parliament who must be sworn in to replace Theodore Heyliger, Sarah Wescot-Williams and Rhoda Arrindell, who have become Ministers.

St. Maarten's Parliament has 15 members, divided into four factions. The United People's (UP) Party and the National Alliance (NA) have six members each, the Democratic Party (DP) has two members and Patrick Illidge is a one man faction.

Printed in the TODAY newspaper on Friday, October 22, 2010

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'HEAVYWEIGHT' FOUND TO HEAD FINANCE DEPARTMENT

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PHILIPSBURG, December 3rd, 2009 -- A new ad-interim Head of Finance has been hired by government. Dutchman Bas Roorda, who is experienced in municipality financing, began working Wednesday.

Finance Commissioner Xavier Blackman told the press Roorda was on contract with government and would serve for two or three years. During that time he will train a St. Maartener to take up the post at the end of his term, as a condition of his contract.

Roorda has worked with several municaplities in the Netherlands and knows the 'rules of engagement' when dealing with Dutch Government funds and procedures.

Blackman described Roorda as a "heavyweight" who would lessen the double workload of interim Director of Resources Hiro Shigemoto. In addition to his tasks as Head of Resources, Shigemoto has been shouldering finance for some time now.

Roorda will help to carry St. Maarten 'over the hump' into the country status that comes into effect on 10/10/10.

The search for a local counterpart, ideally a person who is qualified for the post but needs some more experience before taking up the reins of the department, has already started, Blackman said. The needed experience should be gained working with Roorda. The new finance head is ready to train a counterpart, a process that will make him redundant in the department, the commissioner said.

Government is also reviewing applications to fill several other critical vacancies within its apparatus.

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