Recently-appointed Member of Parliament Claude Peterson (centre) of St. Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) recently met Social Economic Council SER Secretary-General Gerard Richardson (right) to learn about the council’s role in the country.
Peterson’s main concern was the SER board’s high remuneration and he is said to be “very pleased” to learn the board’s packages have been reduced by more than 50 per cent as of December 2017. The chairman’s and vice-chairperson’s remuneration went from NAf. 9,000 and NAf. 3,500 per month respectively to NAf 4,000 and NAf 2,800. The board members went from collecting NAf. 1,000 per month to NAf. 250 per meeting with a maximum of NAf. 500 per month. Substitute board members are no longer remunerated unless they substituted for a colleague. The remuneration is based on attendance at two meetings per month. This decrease is a savings for government of more the NAf. 150,000 yearly. “It is important that these part-time board positions are not remunerated as full-time,” said Peterson. SMCP faction staff member Benjamin Bell accompanied Peterson to SER.
