His Excellency the Governor of Sint Maarten, Mr. Eugene Holiday,
Her Excellency the Prime Minister of Sint Maarten, Mrs. Sarah Wescott-Williams,
His Excellency the minister of Justice of Sint Maarten, Mr. Dennis Richardson,
The Chairman of Parliament of Sint Maarten, Mrs Gracita Arrindell,
Members of the Joint Court of Justice and the Prosecution Service,
Other dignitaries,
Members of the press,
Ladies and gentlemen
It's for me a real honor to welcome you all at the Office of the Attorney General. We consider it a milestone in the history of Sint Maarten and our organization.
Since 10-10-10 Sint Maarten, as a autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, has its own Prosecution Service. In the meantime this country has also it's own Solicitor General with full authority of Attorney General. With the opening of this Office we took a further step in the progress of our Organization.
This has been possible due to the efforts of my staff, especially Mr. Taco Stein, and the cooperation of the Government of Sint Maarten in general and the Minister of Justice in particular.
With the completion of this project and putting in place the infrastructure for improving the professionalism of our Organization I consider it as a mission completed.
It's now time for change and to hand over the scepter to another generation. After 38 years as a Government Official, of which 16 years as Chief Public Prosecutor and 11 years as Attorney General, its now time for change. In the past years I served the Netherlands Antilles and the new countries Curacao, Sint Maarten and the Dutch Caribbean islands Bonaire, Statia and Saba with pleasure. This was possible thanks to the cooperation of my dear, trustful and loyal colleagues and the Government of the countries I served.
After 3 years in the new constitutional structure the Prosecution Services of Curacao, Sint Maarten and the Dutch Caribbean islands are on their way to further professionalization to comply with the needs of our communities in this modern age. The time has come to pass the scepter to another generation.
According to my plans and with the Grace of God I consider to resign as your Attorney General the 1st of February 2014.
You can be assured that Sint Maarten, that always had a special spot in my heart, can always count on me.
I would like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your cooperation during the years I had the honor to serve your country as a Government official. I will now pass the floor to the acting Attorney General Mr Taco Stein, who is "beaming" in his new office.
Sint Maarten, August 30, 2013
