The President of the Dutch First Chamber, Mrs. Ankie Broekers-Knol and the President of the Dutch Second Chamber, Ms. Anouchka van Miltenburg, paid a courtesy visit to the Council of Ministers on Tuesday.
The courtesy visit was the first visit of both Presidents to the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. In the meeting they were accompanied by Secretary General of the First Chamber Mr. Geert Jan Hamilton, Secretary General of the Second Chamber Mrs. Jacqueline Biesheuvel-Vermeijden, former St. Maarten resident Acting Secretary General of the Second Chamber Mr. Tim de Lange who is also ‘Griffier vaste Tweede Kamercommissie koninkrijks relaties’, Ms. Marloes Konings who is the Communication Officer and First Chamber staff member Mr. Floris Wolf.
On behalf of the delegation, Mrs. Ankie Broekers-Knol expressed her compassion seeing the consequences of Hurricane Gonzalo, and stated that they “commiserate with this unfortunate situation”. Ms. Anouchka van Miltenburg was impressed by the manner the people cleaned up the island. Nevertheless, both chairladies were very pleased for the opportunity to visit the island in person in order to experience the island for themselves.
They further inquired about the economy, health and education in the country. In closing, the Council made an appeal to the delegation to ensure that St. Maarten is given the opportunity to develop and to make its own decisions thereto.