Today, the Governor of Sint Maarten, His Excellency drs. E.B. Holiday, announced details regarding the 2016 Governor’s Symposium. The theme for this year’s event is Securing National development.
The event will be held on Friday June 24, 2016, at the Westin Dawn Beach Resort and Spa. This year’s symposium will encompass regional and national speakers as well as Sint Maarten’s youth and will highlight the educational, health care, environmental, economic and cultural aspects of national development, each from their own perspective. With the diversity of speakers, as well as a round table conference, the 2016 Governor’s Symposium aims to intellectually engage the invited guests and, stimulate thoughtful debate about the “actions required to secure national development and to further strengthen the capacity of our nation to further advance the quality of life of our people”, as declared by Governor Holiday.
Preparations by the Symposium Organizing Committee installed by Governor Holiday started several months ago and are in the final stages. The Symposium Organizing Committee to prepare the Symposium is comprised of Ms. Casandra Janssen as chair, Mr. Patrick Trijsburg as secretary, Mr. Ajamu Baly, Ms. Dahjanarah Philips, Mrs. Nancy Guishard-Joubert, Ms. Patricia Philips, and Mrs. Astrid Plantz-Gartner.
The overall objective of the Governor’s Symposia is the promotion of good governance. The annual Governors Symposium is considered to be a supportive platform for all invited stakeholders – government, civil society and the private sector – to focus, raise awareness and, hopefully, function as a catalyst for best practices within the community of Sint Maarten. This will be the fifth Symposium the Governor has organized. Previous themes included National Heritage, Sustainable Development and Education for Democracy, Governance: the value check and balances.