PM: "St. Maarten experiences man more sunny days than any amount of storms and so we need to count our blessings as St. Maarten"
The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams attended various celebrations on Thursday joining with the public of St. Maarten in celebrating constitution day; the third anniversary of the attainment of Country Status for St. Maarten.
In the morning the Prime Minister attended the solemn ceremony of Parliament commemorating the Tenth of October 2010, the date St. Maarten received its own country status. The Prime Minister during her address highlighted the strives St. Maarten has made and the way forward for the Country. "Today is a reason for St. Maarten to celebrate and in celebrating it behooves all of us to look back and recognize the work done by so many to make it possible to be where we are today in commemorating the third anniversary of St. Maarten. Many of us, including our youth, worked very hard and gave their much needed input, ideas and contributions to the development of this country and today I say thank you to all who, in one way or another, contributed even in the smallest way to help build the Country of St. Maarten.
"We have surely grown over the last three years. It is true that this growth has not come without its growing pains. Indeed I would like to make an analogy to childbirth in saying that as a country we have gone through labor, a long and difficult labor. We have finally given and now in growing, the young country that is St. Maarten is experiencing its growing pains," emphasized the PM.
The Prime Minister also echoed keynote speaker the first Prime Minister of Curacao Eman when she said; "Prime Minister Eman thank you for your work and it is an eye opener to see that Aruba went through so familiar issues like what we are going through. We have learned to never turn back and we must move forward. As we celebrate and recognize the work done by some many on St. Maarten we must realize that we cannot turn back, and it is up to us to see how committed as a country we are. Every citizens must ask themselves the question; ‘What part would I like to be in helping to build my country?’ We need to take into consideration the feelings and aspirations of the youth of St. Maarten, who are too often summarized under a negative caption. Our committed young people are a part of that growth and development and we should try to use all of that in a positive way.
The Prime Minister continued by stating that there is a lot of work for St. Maarten in the road ahead but collectively and together the push can be made to realize what has to occur to develop the Country. "We have experienced many storms in the past and so in our growth and development we are experiencing storms also. However, the fact remains that St. Maarten experiences man more sunny days than any amount of storms and so we need to count our blessings as St. Maarten and we need to recognize that we all are here for a purpose. Even today we can say that what we are going through we have weathered worse and we will emerge from this stronger again. I believe that it is with a vision that our slogan is Semper Pro Gradiens was established; always moving ahead and always wanting to give it our best. Let us put that collective psyche to work once again for the benefit and the future of our country St. Maarten. God bless the people, Parliament and Country of St. Maarten and its development. It will be a difficult journey, we sometimes will stumble, but we will always stand up again," stressed the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister also joined various dignitaries at the New Testament Baptist Church where Pastor Wycliffe Smith urged all officials present to move forward collectively in building a god-fearing and successful Country.