The outcome of the Inter-parliamentary Kingdom Consultation (IPKO) that took place in Aruba recently, will be a topic of discussion on Friday morning in the House of Parliament when the Permanent Kingdom Affairs and Inter-parliamentary Relations Committee will meet for a debriefing.
The meeting is scheduled to start at 10.00am in the General Assembly Chamber, and members of the public are invited to attend the open session.
The next IPKO is scheduled for May 27 to 29 in The Hague, the Netherlands which will be attended by parliamentary delegations from the Netherlands, Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten.
Members of Parliament (MPs) will be sharing their opinions on Friday morning when the House sits for the debriefing.
On energy matters, delegation members fully support cooperation in the area of energy, and look forward to seeing the utility companies of Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten coming together to have discussions in exploring such cooperation.
After such discussions are held, it should lead to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) being signed by the three parties.
The delegation members then hope to be able to discuss the MOU at the next IPKO meeting.
A workgroup has been established with representatives from the following countries: Rasmijn (Aruba), Sulvaran (Curacao) and Bosman (the Netherlands). A representative from Sint Maarten still has to be identified.
The delegations decided to pursue integrity and governance on two trajectories: firstly, each country will bring forth their parliament’s wishes where it concerns laws and regulations related to integrity; secondly, an inventory will be taken with respect to the positions of political parties on integrity issues.
Existing reports such as GRECO about the Netherlands and Transparency International about Curacao, will be sent to the various members of the delegations.
Members of the workgroup are Wilsoe (Curacao), Sneek (Aruba), Wescot-Williams (Sint Maarten) and Van Bijsterveld (the Netherlands).
On education, the delegation representatives from the four countries are of the opinion that former students from Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten, should be able to make use of a repayment plan that is less stringent. Research will be done about turning the study debt from Euros to US Dollars; secondly, to also look at the possibility of establishing a DUO Helpdesk in the Dutch Caribbean that would be able to assist former students.
MPs will also look at the social loan position of Dutch Caribbean students and Dutch European students, and have the aforementioned Caribbean part in line with those in Holland.
Members of this workgroup are Linthorst (the Netherlands), De Sousa-Croes (Aruba), Jesus-Leito (Curacao) and William Marlin (Sint Maarten).
The delegations at IPKO have called on their respective governments to take part in a Healthcare Conference that Aruba is organizing. A letter will be drafted to be sent to the four governments. At the next IPKO, the outcome of the conference will be discussed by the four delegations.
The workgroup related to this agenda topic comprises of Wyatt-Ras (Aruba), Davelaar (Curacao), Lloyd Richardson (Sint Maarten) and Oskam (the Netherlands).
When it comes to discrimination within the Kingdom, the delegations representing the four countries are all in line with international laws and regulations, and will call on their governments to provide information about the risks for discrimination where it concerns; and the measures to be taken to address these issues on illegal migrants; labour market discrimination; ethnic, religious and sexual discrimination. The delegations would like to have this information by the middle of April.
A temporary workgroup comprising of representatives: Ganzevoort (the Netherlands), Jesus-Leito (Curacao) and Thijsen (Aruba) will analyse the information that would be provided by the four governments, and by mid-May, draft a report with recommendations on areas that should be improved. This report will be discussed at the next IPKO. Sint Maarten’s representative for this workgroup still has to be appointed.
Regarding economic development opportunities within the Kingdom, the delegations will contact their respective governments regarding the state of affairs of motions passed related to the freedom of movement of persons and goods in the Dutch Caribbean.
The delegations also pointed out the importance of cooperation, coordination and working together of such services as customs, immigration/border protection, by using the latest technology and protocols.
The workgroup for economic affairs comprises of Rosaria (Curacao), Bikker (Aruba), Leona Marlin-Romeo (Sint Maarten) and Bosman (the Netherlands).
The delegations welcomed the initiatives taken to develop a children’s rights plan, and are calling on the four governments to further workout the plan as was noted in a previous IPKO meeting of June 2014.
The workgroup related to youth matters comprises of Van Laar (the Netherlands), Sneek (Aruba), Jesus-Leito (Curacao) and William Marlin (Sint Maarten).
The workgroup will analyse plans and best practices and draft a document with recommendations by mid-May about areas of cooperation on a bilateral and multi-lateral level. This document will then be discussed at the next IPKO where concrete decisions will be taken on the way forward.
A delegation of six MPs had represented Sint Maarten at the Inter-parliamentary Kingdom Consultation in Oranjestad, Aruba that was held from January 6 to 9.
The delegation was headed by President of Parliament Hon. Dr. Lloyd Richardson, and included President of Sint Maarten’s Permanent Kingdom Affairs and Inter-parliamentary Relations Committee Hon. Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams, MP Hon. Leona Marlin-Romeo, MP Hon. William Marlin, MP Hon. Frans Richardson, Secretary General Nancy Joubert, Advisor Ralph Richardson, and Julien Larmonie.
