Today the Council of ministers agreed with the proposal of the Minister of Interior Affairs Kingdom Relations Mrs. mr. drs. J.W.E. Spies, to appoint Mrs. L.A. Emerencia, PhD (Lydia) to appoint as the new island governor of Bonaire.
Mrs. dr. Lydia Emerencia was born in 1954 in Aruba en is of Bonairean descendant. Her father was born in Bonaire. She has various family members living on the island. She knows Bonaire well and has been here on many occasions. The new island governor has two children.
Mrs. Emerencia has many year of experience in education. Since 2010 she is the director of the Center for Research and Development at the University of Aruba, before that she was the rector of the same university. She has two academic titles: a Ph.D. from the Utrechtse School voor Bestuur en Organisatie, University of Utrecht (UU), and a PhD, AbD. from the Katholieke Universiteit of Nijmegen. She is the successor of Mr. mr. dr. Glenn A.E. Thodé who as of January 1st has been functioning as the rector of the University of Aruba.
The new island governor will be sworn in by the representative of the central government Wilbert Stolte in the Passangrahan om March 1st , 2012.
The procedure
Several persons applied for the function for the island governor.
A selection was made out of the received applications and conversations were held with the in principle suitable candidates that met the requirements of the profiled that was made. The trust commission, that was installed by the Island Council, gave a report of their findings. Central government representative made recommendations to the minister of BZK. The appointment of the island governor takes place by royal decision. The island governor is appointed for a period of six months