As of Monday June 27, the Civil Registry Department has been reinforced with two specialists from the Netherlands.
The engagement of the two specialists is part of the project "Versterking Afdeling Burgerzaken" which is led by project leader Johan van den Berg.
The project is aimed at the realization of updating the civil records and the electoral lists, training personnel, improving security of files and work processes as well as strengthening internal controls.
In collaboration with the head of the Civil Registry Department, the project leader will try to bring the Civil Registry to a higher quality level.
According to the project plan goals, the aforementioned should be attained at the end of 2012. The project is financed from Dutch cooperation funds, managed by USONA. Project ownership rests with BAK, the Department of Interior and Kingdom Relations.
Recently a lot has been written and discussed about the quality level at the Civil Registry Department.
Many reports indicate the challenges the department faces. Partial successes notwithstanding, the recommended improvements were never fully realized.
With the appointment last May of a project leader, Sint Maarten expects to alter this. The necessary preconditions were first realized. Currently the implementation has actually started with the engagement of two specialists of the Bestuursacademie Caribbean.