OF SINT MAARTEN
GOVERNMENT
SEMPER PRO GREDIENS
Prime Minister The Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams
Welcome, people of Sint Maarten
It is with a grateful heart that I take the opportunity to address you as we face another new year.
Grateful for the opportunities that lie ahead and for the accomplishments that are now behind us.
This I do, even as the year 2012, like many before it, will join the ranks of years of global challenges and uncertainties.
St. Maarten during 2012 celebrated its second anniversary of country status -albeit within the Dutch Kingdom- and during that time has faced the challenges of any modern country today.
Sincerely,
Sarah Wescot-Williams
Prime Minister
BIO
The Prime Minister of St. Maarten, the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams is a native Saint Martiner who has made a name for herself in the politics of this two-nation island. In a political career spanning more than 35 years she has served as member of the Executive Council of the island territory of Sint Maarten, was a Member of Parliament for the Netherlands Antilles, has served as member of the Island Legislative and has chaired the Permanent Commission for Constitutional Affairs of the Legislature. She is the first female on St. Maarten to head a major political party, leading the Democratic Party of Sint Maarten since 1994.
The realization by the Government of the Dutch Kingdom that a status change for the island of St. Maarten is inevitable is credited to her unrelenting drive for recognition of the Constitutional referendum on St. Maarten which was held on the 23rd of June, 2000.
Prior to assuming political office she headed the island’s Financial Department and was Deputy Island Secretary from 1985 until 1991 when she was appointed member of the Executive Council.
She complements her experience in Public Service with an Honor’s Associate Degree in Business and Finance, a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration, and a Master’s in Public Administration (suma cum laude) from La Salle University, USA.
On October 10, 2010, she was appointed as the first Prime Minister The Prime Minister of St. Maarten, the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams first Prime Minister of the Country Sint Maarten and is responsible for the portfolio of General Affairs.
Ministry Of General Affairs
The Ministry of General Affairs is for large part the entity within the new government organization that follows up on the responsibilities of the former Directorate of Management Support Services. The ministry also assumes certain additional responsibilities in a central coordinating and facilitating role towards the rest of the organization. As such, the ministry falls under the responsibility of the Leader of Government. The Ministry falls under the responsibility of the Prime Minister of Sint Maarten.
The mission of the Ministry of General Affairs of the Country Sint Maarten is to care for, coordinate, advise on and support the process towards the general government policy. To care for the preparation, publication and management of the laws and regulations of the land, and responsibility for legal advising national security and disaster management, as well as the development integration and making operational the concerns with respect to foreign relations. Also, the care for an effective, efficient, trustworthy and client friendly service to the government organization, business sector, citizens and organizations that make up the community of Sint Maarten, as well as the care for external communication pertaining to government policy in general. The aforementioned will be carried out under the credo: “Strong, Compassionate and Decisive”.