Council approves new
organisational structure
PHILIPSBURG--The Island Council approved by a general vote the new organisational structure for the island territory of St. Maarten. The new structure has been in draft for some years and therefore was nothing of which the Island Council members were not aware.
Constitutional Affairs Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams said the current ordinance regulating the organisational structure of the civil service dated back to 2006. That ordinance introduced the sector model and the appointment of sector directors.
However, the project for organisational development, remuneration and functioning evaluations and career opportunities OBF was started in 2005.
Wescot-Williams said several changes had already been applied in the functioning of areas such as education, management support, Cabinet of the Lt. Governor and the Island Secretariat.
Personnel Affairs Commissioner Maria Buncamper-Molanus added that the Island Secretary headed the organisation and as the general director would be the one ultimately responsible. In the new structure, the different sectors will be subdivided into directorates and departments.
The guidelines for placement and remuneration have been established in consultation with the Joint Consultation for Civil Servants Affairs GOA. After the ordinance has been approved, the placement of the civil servants in the new organisation will take place.
The new remuneration comprises two projects: new job descriptions and new salary scales. Both projects have already been approved.
The organisational structure will also facilitate the transfer from island territory to country status, Buncamper-Molanus said.
Wescot-Williams highlighted that from all indications, St. Maarten would need more civil servants to fill all the positions when it attained country status.
The Central Government departments in St. Maarten have all been skeleton-staffed, she said, and now that the transfer dossiers have been received, the island will have a complete view of what is necessary to set up the Ministries.
The transfer of tasks and authorities has to go along with the transfer of personnel and monies, Wescot Williams said.
The main discussion during yesterday’s meeting focused on the number of politically appointed assistants and advisors a Commissioner would be allowed to have.
National Alliance Councilman William Marlin said that the way the ordinance had been drafted, the number of assistants and advisors for Commissioners would be open-ended. He suggested that the maximum number of assistants and advisors the Commissioners could have should be established and that this number be restricted to one or two. He said it was an ethical issue concerning what was politically correct and complying with rules of good governance.
Wescot-Williams rejected this statement, saying that, as had been customary, ordinances regulated, but policy was left up to the Executive Council to be regulated through an Island Regulation containing General Measures.
The current situation is that three commissioners have three assistants, and two commissioners have three assistants plus an advisor from the civil service, Wescot-Williams said.
