Philipsburg:--- The Ombudsman continued with the weekly Information Exchange Session with the ministries and met on Monday, September 12th 2011 with the Ministry of Finance.The Secretary General Mrs. Sherry Hazel gave an outline of the organization structure while the acting Island Receiver Ms. Minerva Gumbs gave an explanation of the tasks and the director of the Tax Office, Mr.Geert Bergsma gave a synopsis of the projects implemented and under review to improve the functioning of the tax department.
On Friday the High Councils of State and the SER met with representatives of USONA, SONA (Stichting Ontwikkeling Nederlandse Antillen) and BAK (Buitenlandse Aangelegenheden en Koninkrijksrelaties) to discuss ways to improve the financing procedures of the IVB funds earmarked to assist in the establishment of the these institutions. Present at the meeting were, among others, the board member of SONA, Mr. Mike Alexander, and the director of USONA, Mr. Reginaldo Dorand.
The Ombudsman has been experiencing delays in the execution of the projects and after the fruitful discussion, she is very hopeful that the projects will be approved and executed within short.