On Friday, March 6th, 2015 Oldine Bryson-Pantophlet , Chairwoman and Gerard Richardson, Secretary-general (SG) of the Social Economic Council (SER) provided a delegation of members of the Youth Parliament of Sint Maarten with a presentation on the advisory body.
Chairwoman Oldine Bryson-Pantophlet gave an outline of the workings of the advisory body mainly on the role of its members and staff. In addition information was provided as to when an advice was considered a SER topic. The Secretary-General outlined the role of the SER within the community and gave various examples of past and present topics that were covered by the SER.
Chairwoman Oldine Bryson-Pantophlet stated that the SER works for government and can submit solicited and unsolicited advice to the various ministers through the Minister of General Affairs. In certain specific cases if requested by parliament, SER also renders its advice, even though this is not explicitly stated in the law.
The members of the Youth Parliament were allowed to pose their questions with regard to the role of the SER, government and parliament after the presentation.
In an continued effort to inform the public on the workings of the SER, the advisory body welcomes similar meetings with government, government owned companies , non-profit organizations, community councils, youth organizations and unions. Interested parties should contact the SER on the following phone numbers 542-4060 or 542-4065 to schedule a presentation.
For more information on the SER, please visit the website www.sersxm.org