THE HAGUE--Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk will be arriving in St. Maarten on Sunday for a working visit. He will visit St. Eustatius on Monday.
The Minister, who has not been to the Windward Islands since January 2015, will have talks with local authorities including Governor Eugene Holiday, Prime Minister William Marlin and the Council of Ministers, and President of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams. As is usual, the current developments will be discussed. Some of these topics include the establishing of the Integrity Chamber for St. Maarten and the Dutch support to strengthen the local justice sector.
On Monday, Plasterk will visit St. Eustatius for talks with the Executive Council. St. Eustatius, which has been under administrative supervision since June last year, and was also instructed to get its finances in order. As a result, tensions in the relations between Oranjestad and The Hague grew to the point where members of the Dutch Council of Ministers were not visiting the island anymore.
However, consultations have resumed, announced Minister Plasterk in a debate with the Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament in December. At that time, Plasterk also announced that he would be visiting St. Eustatius early 2016.
National Government Representative Gilbert Isabella, who was placed in charge of the execution of the action plan to get Statia’s finances in order and to beef up the administration, will be attending Plasterk’s meeting with the local government.
In St. Maarten on Wednesday morning, Plasterk will be present at the Governor’s Consultation, a regular meeting of the three Governors of the Dutch Caribbean. St. Maarten is hosting the meeting this time. Plasterk returns to the Netherlands on Wednesday afternoon.
