PHILIPSBURG:--- The government of St. Maarten has been working on a number of integrity related recommendations out of the integrity reports since said reports were made public. The issue remains, as stated prior, the #1 priority for the Gumbs cabinet who meet regularly to gauge progress and re-iterate to the civil core how important it is for the country to close several "integrity holes" that exists in its organization.
Below are a number of the integrity-related recommendations that government is working on and which will be finalized short-term. A number of recommendations made were already realized by the time the integrity reports were presented which clearly shows that government was already aware of the needs where those matters were concerned.
Plan of approach
The plan of approach integrity (the plan) has been approved by the Council of Ministers.
The structure of the organization to implement the recommendations of all the integrity reports, as proposed in the plan of approach, and therefore also approved by the Council of Ministers, is the following:
- The Council of Ministers which is the responsible body for the implementation of the recommendations;
- A Project Bureau, with a secretariat and project leaders
- An independent Oversight Committee.
Project bureau
The project bureau consists of the Secretary Generals of Justice, General Affairs and Finance. The tasks and responsibilities of the project bureau are amongst others:
- The responsibility for the implementation of the proposals of the project leaders as approved by them;
- To advise the Council of Ministers on the status of the implementation of the recommendations;
- To monitor the different actions and advices of the project leaders to make sure that everyone is on the same line;
- To safeguard the quality and the applicability of the proposals to implement the recommendations;
- If needed and on instruction of the council of ministers, meet with the oversight committee to give elucidation on the actions and advices on the implementation of the recommendations.
The Council of Ministers has approved that all the ministries will contribute financially to the functioning of the organization.
The oversight committee
The tasks and responsibilities of the oversight committee are to, in an independent way, report on the status of the implementation of the recommendations to the council of ministers. The committee will report once a year, and will meet every three months. Finally the committee is entitled to, in case the procedures or actions for implementing the recommendations are lacking behind, to recommend to the council of ministers to take the necessary steps in a separate report prior to their once a year reporting.
The project bureau and the project leaders have the obligation to cooperate with the oversight committee, when requested by the committees. The committee will have to their disposal a secretariat by their choice, and the costs will be covered by government.
Please note that this plan of approach and the structure mentioned above has been communicated to the Netherlands on several occasions and has been part of the discussions between the civil servants of St Maarten and the Ministry of Kingdom relations, in The Hague last December.
Status of the execution of the Plan of Approach
The project leaders have made their presentation to the project bureau and their plans are now being executed. In terms of execution, this is the first government that submitted their integrity forms in accordance to the law timely to the Council of Advice and General Audit Chamber. During every CoM meeting, it is verified with the Ministers present, if there is any conflict of interest for any agenda points.
Legislation.
The project leader made a presentation to the project bureau end of last year during which an overview was presented of the laws and adjustments of the laws that were needed to implement the recommendations.
Project HRM (Personnel Affairs)
The project leader also made a presentation to the project bureau, also containing an overview of proposed measures in the functioning of the civil servants under the existing laws (LMA).
Project Communication
The project leader also gave a presentation to the project bureau on the steps that should be taken in order to come with a strategic communication plan, with as aim more involvement of the civil servants in developing applying integrity at work (be aware what is integrity) and also to communicate the message of the actions of government on the issue of integrity.
Project Integrity chamber.
The project leader of this project will be the secretariat of the integrity chamber. At this moment Government has a draft national ordinance establishing an integrity chamber.
Game Control Board
On the gaming control board: both the ministry of TEZTV and ministry of Justice have drafted laws on the gaming control board each from their own perspective. The Ministry of Justice will ensure that the laws comply with international requirements (CFATF). Within short meetings will be organized to bridge the differences and merge the two laws into one and initiate the formal legal procedure for establishing the law.
Code of Ethics
Ready in draft format and will be presented to the Minister of General Affairs this month (FEB – 2015).
Oath of office for all civil servants
Execution was mandated to the Ministers. P&O is updating its inventory of all civil servants that have yet to take the oath and will schedule quarterly dates with each minister's cabinet for the oath taking. First one will take place in March of this year.
Disciplinary Measures
Two matters pertaining to disciplinary measures are currently being worked on. Firstly, P&O is working on a proposal to have light disciplinary measures mandated to the SG's. Secondly, P&O is working on creating uniformity across the board by linking specific measures to specific derelictions of duty so that similar disciplinary action is taken against persons regardless of where they work.
HR-Cycle
Government has started since last year to provide workshops on the performance management cycle to the ministries. This year this is also being done for the Ministry of Justice, where it will be incorporated throughout that ministry with the assistance of the central department of P&O.