The Sint Maarten House: Re-brand, Revive and Reposition

THE HAGUE — THE NETHERLANDS –The recently appointed Minister and Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary of Sint Maarten in the Romeo-Marlin Cabinet II coming forth out of the United Democrats and Sint Maarten Christian Party the Honorable Drs. Jorien Wuite, and the Honorable Michael Somersall, during their introductory meeting with the staff members of her Cabinet in The Hague, Netherlands introduced the vision and mission of their respective tenures as representatives of Sint Maarten.

Honorable Minister Wuite, no stranger to the Executive branch of Government as she has held the position as Minister of Education, Culture Youth Affairs and Sports, prior to accepting the responsibility to represent the Government of Sint Maarten in the Netherlands. Her wealth of knowledge and her experience in both the legislative as the administrative sectors of government, makes her the most qualified representative to further defend and protect the rights of Sint Maarten as its rightful representative in the Kingdom Council of ministers in The Hague.

Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary, Mr. Michael Somersall, a newcomer to the Executive branch of government. Non the least, a most apt, dedicated and well versed on the plights and urgent needs of Sint Maarten enters into the post with vital solutions and approaches to assist the Romeo-Marlin II Cabinet in achieving their goals.

Both government officials will be carrying out their duties as representatives of the Government of Sint Maarten, in particular that of the Prime Minister, in the Netherlands in accordance with the rules and regulations as stated laws and by-laws and instructions of the Kingdom Council of Ministers. They bring to the table transparency and sound judgement and will be a great asset in moving Sint Maarten forward, with the assistance of a strong dedicated and qualified team at their Cabinet.

Keeping in line with both the National Recovery Program as well as the Governing Program of the newly appointed Council of Ministers, focus will be placed on the Cabinet of the Minister Plenipotentiary in the pivotal role it will be assuming in the Reconstruction and repositioning of Sint Maarten.

The Cabinet being the direct link and in many cases the first point of contact between the Kingdom partners, will be efficient and effectively utilized in the process of maintaining, strengthening and creating new ties with potential partners in the Netherlands and Europe in extension where it concerns the rebuilding of a vibrant economy for Sint Maarten. The Cabinet will represent the interest of Cabinet Romeo – Marlin and work with the interests, guidelines and priorities of this Cabinet in mind.

The promotion of economic growth is in this aspect the central themes in which the Cabinet will function as a catalyst in bringing partners together by attracting skilled labor force. Together with the stakeholders on Sint Maarten, an active campaign will be initiated to attract an encourage remigration of Professionals of the island through the establishment of recruitment programs.

Further attention will also be placed, on rebranding the Cabinet by highlighting the areas of services and expertise present at the Cabinet. In so doing the Cabinet will better utilize the expertise present to attract regional and international funding for among others the Creative industries.

In this joint approach the Minister Plenipotentiary together with the Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary and staff of the Cabinet, will jointly develop a strategy, based on the vision presented in the Governing Program. Active use will be made of the Website of the Cabinet as an important tool in informing the masses of developments both locally in the Netherlands as well as on the island of Sint Maarten. In so doing the Cabinet will assure its position in the process of strengthening the ties and relationships within The Netherlands on all fronts.

Minister Wuite assured and encouraged the Staff members of her Cabinet of a most innovating, and invigoration tenure, where as a Team a definite change will be made that will positively impact and assist in the process of Government achieving its highest potential with the maximum output to better assist in the rebuilding and rebranding of Sint Maarten. As she so eloquently stated to her staff “Team work is Dream work, and we can make the change”.

The Staff of the Cabinet will be welcoming the Minister shortly as she will be arriving on her post in The Hague in the first week of July, where she will be formally introduced and be in consultations with her counterparts at the of Kingdom Council of Ministers meeting directly upon arrival.

During the weeks to follow she will be paying courtesy visits to partners in the Diplomatic community in The Hague and will be meeting with Sint Maarten organizations and persons of influence in the process of rebuilding Sint Maarten.

The staff assured both the Minister and Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary of their support and their enthusiasm in being part of this change process with them coming into a productive and pleasant working environment dedicated and centered around teamwork.