St. Maarten without a Governor for several days.
His Excellency Governor of St. Maarten Mr Ajamu Baly apparently is back on the Island after leaving on March 13 through 17th for official business in the Netherlands.
This information about his visit was only published on the Governor’s FB page and not in the press. It was reported on the page that during his visit he met with several Ministers, State Secretaries, Members of Parliament and other dignitaries.
The governor during his visit was pictured with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mr. Mark Rutter.
The FB page documented the information about the visit and the officials with whom the Governor held meetings. Among them were Plenipotentiary Minister for St. Maarten Rene Violenus; Vice President of the Council of State Mr. Thom de Graaf; State Secretary for Kingdom Relations, Ms. Alexandra van Huffellen; Chair of the committee for Kingdom Relations for both the first and second Chamber and MP Jorien Wuiter who is known to us and have served here as a Minister before running for office in the Parliament of the Netherlands.
The Governor also met with both the State Secretary for Justice and Security and the Minister for the same Ministry Mrs. Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius. His meeting with both heads of that Ministry seems to secure the Kingdom’s Interest and its representation on St. Maarten in the person of His Excellency Governor Ajamu Baly. It must be noted that a second in command has not yet been Identified for the position of deputy Governor to replace him when he is absent.
Having met with both the State Secretary and the Minister for Justice and Security, could mean that Justice and Security issues were high on the agenda for discussion during this official working visit.
On Thursday evening March 16th, the Governor was said to have hosted a network event at the Cabinet of the Minister of Plenipotentiary where he invited St. Maarteners living in the Netherlands to talk about ways to increase Capacity on St. Maarten. Discussions were held about obstacles that prevented St. Maarteners from returning home to work; and how these obstacles could be removed. Ways to contribute and be more involved in the economic development on the Island was also discussed.
