Philipsburg:--- Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams signed a lease agreement with the Foundation that manages government owned buildings for the service center that will be established at the Simpson Bay Fish Market. The agreement was signed on Wednesday shortly after the Council of Ministers' weekly press briefing. Those that were part of the signing ceremony were Angela Dekker from USONA and Chairman of the Foundation for Government Buildings Kurt Ruan. Other persons that joined to witness the signing ceremony gave support and expressed their appreciation for the new service center that is to be established upstairs of the Simpson Bay Fish Market. A help desk will also be on the ground floor to assist senior citizens or persons that are not able to climb the steps to the top floor.
The idea the Prime Minister said is to establish a one stop shopping concept through the use of ICT and this will improve efficiency since the most important part of the service will be through the use of technology. Another major aim is to minimize the gap between government and its citizens. The Simpson Bay service center is the first of its kind to be established and government intends to move into the other districts after gaining some experience and knowledge at the first to be established service center.
The new initiative undertaken by government is to be financed by USONA since the cost of the project has price tag of 1.5 million guilders.
Wescot Williams said at least three Ministries will be offering services at the new location. Those are the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labor, Social Development and Public Health as well as the Ministry of General Affairs. Wescot Williams said that several departments from the three ministries will be housed at the Simpson Bay Service Center. Wescot Williams said the only service that has to take place in Philipsburg is the issuance of passports. Even though the process of obtaining a passport has to be finalized in Philipsburg, intake of documents can be done in Simpson Bay when the service center is up and running.
Now that the lease agreement has been signed, modification of the new location will take place shortly and the opening ceremony is expected to take place during the second week of March 2013.
