Philipsburg:--- The National Alliance/Heyliger and Laviest Government have decided last week to appoint Gracita Arrindell in the island secretariat, a letter was sent to Arrindell Wednesday morning informing her of the decision taken by the executive council.
SMN News has been reliably informed that Arrindell did not sign for the letter and instead directed the person delivering the letter to her lawyer’s office.
According to information, reaching SMN News Arrindell is aware of the contents of the letter and the decision taken by the executive council.
In an invited comment, the former island council lady said she will report to the office of the island secretariat on Monday. Arrindell said she received information last week that the executive council has taken a decision to appoint her to a junior position in the island secretariat as a policy worker (BELEIDSADVISEUR). The former island council lady and an adjunct island secretary said she intends to carefully review the decision since the rulings of the court was very clear, which was issued in May, and will expire on August 24 upcoming.
Arrindell said it came to her attention that some weeks ago leader of government William Marlin apparently publicly stated that an offer was made to her but until to date she was never approached officially by anyone in the civil service administration to discuss their proposal.
Arrindell is a scale 15 senior civil servant with almost 23 years of service and experience in administrative as well as constitutional matters. While the position offered is a scale 13, her salary practically remains the same, no mention is made of her other benefits as a senior civil servant. Arrindell stated that, she is hopeful that this is an honest oversight and she is looking forward to working with the civil service and government on the many issues facing St Maarten. ‘I am hopeful that in the end, government will resolve this and any other matter that is unclear or unjust not addressed in the courts ruling. It is a pity it took so long’ she said.
The former island council lady did not want to deny nor confirm that she expressed her desire to take up the position as director of support services since that position has been vacant for quite some time. It is worth noticing that constitutional affairs bureau also falls under this sector among other departments such as GIS and judicial affairs.
Asked if she was offered the position to head the department of constitutional affairs Arrindell said she read that in the newspapers and was surprised at the information reported at the time and confirmed that soon after the report she was approached to consider this option on a temporary basis.
SMN News has learnt that the island government has taken a decision to phase out the department of constitutional affairs as they are busy restructuring several departments. This media house was not able to confirm the information pertaining to the department in question.