On Thursday October 22, 2009, 4 classes of Milton Peters College visited the Government Administration Building of the Island Government of St. Maarten. The Island Secretariat, in the person of Valerie Brazier hosted the students as they were informed of the activities and functions of government by different presenters.
Joane Dovale Meit – Island Secretary, introduced the classes to government with a presentation that covered the present governing organizational structure on a Kingdom, Central and Island level. She explained that St. Maarten has three main entities namely the Governor’s Office, the Island Council and the Executive Council. While, the execution of the daily services of government are carried out by 7 sectors of which the Island Secretary is the General Director.
The role of the Island Council was presented by 2 Island Council members, Sarah Wescot Williams and Maria Buncamper Molanus. Passing legislation, debating yearly budgets and discussing an Island Council’s immunity status are some of the topics covered in their presentation.
"How much do you get paid?" one of the questions posed by a student to Commisioner Theodore Heyliger. Commissioner Heyliger not only answered that question but elucidated on other issues such as the current make up of the present Executive Council. As a member of the Executive Council Commissioner Heyliger explained the constraints of following policies of good governance and transparency under which simple road repairs are executed.
Other presentations were done by Attorney at Law Reynold Groeneveldt who spoke on the future organizational structure when the island transitions to Country Status. Rodney Richardson Interim Department Head at GIS & Protocol presented a video on the role and functions of the department as the clearing house for Government information. The final presentation was done by Bianca Hodge of General Affairs who explained the process of documentation and archiving at her department.