On Monday March 23rd 2009, in the morning at 10:20 am, the Central Committee meeting was held at the Hotel Collectivity/Marie between Island Council Members and the Territorial Council. The first of such meetings for the year.
President of the Collectivité of French Saint Martin, Franz Gumbs welcomed the committee and made some opening remarks.
"We are so close, yet so far," referring not only to the in distance between the two sides of St. Martin, but also in cooperation that is needed for a closer working relationship.
The meeting was long overdue and much had to be discussed, especially in terms of agriculture, fisheries, tourism, sea ports, education, constitutional developments, crime, taxation, governmental policies, development of statistical units, and other mutually beneficial areas that need urgent attention and that must be shared experiences so that we learn from each other, according to President Gumbs.
This sentiment was echoed by Chairman of the Central Committee—Leroy de Weever, who said, "I would like to establish a bi-monthly or a quarterly meeting so that we can work on these issues of mutual interest. It is essential that we work together, share our experiences, and do what needs to be done for the improvement of the St. Maarten community."
There were two presentations: 1) The new status Collectivité of Saint Martin by Senator Louis-Constant Fleming, and 2) Developments in Sint Maarten’s constitutional changes by Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams.
Senator Fleming explained the long and detailed history of how and when Saint Martin attained its status as Collectivité and what all that means for the current and future administration and for the people of Saint Martin.
Commissioner Wescot-Williams explained the plight of the constitutional developments and what the current situation is concerning the administration, including the intricacies of the Kingdom relations, the Federal Government and its consequences. The commissioner explained about the responsible entities for Finance, Justice, Education, Public Health, Defense, among other topics. She explained what portfolios were relegated to the Central Government in the Kingdom Charter, the Island Regulations, and the restrains that exist. Nevertheless the obstacles, we are in the latter stages of the constitutional change.
All of the elected officials of the Dutch and French sides were of the opinion that the meeting was constructive and the hopes are that there will be meetings on a regular basis to work together and to come to workable solutions in the future.
