~ PM did not see the letter before it was dispatched, meetings planned with Ombudsman and COM.~
PHILIPSBURG: --- Prime Minister of St Maarten Silveria Jacobs announced at the Council of Minister's press briefing on Wednesday that the Minister of VROMI Egbert Jurendy Doran has officially retracted the letter he sent to the Ombudsman of St. Maarten last week.
Jacobs said that the “letter” that made headlines last week was discussed in the Council of Ministers while the Minister of VROMI had time to reflect on the decision he took, and she is happy that the Minister apologized publicly on the floor of parliament while he sent another letter to the Ombudsman retracting the letter while he also apologized in writing. Jacobs said the Minister of VROMI has also dedicated himself to having a positive and collaborative relationship with the Ombudsman in the future which the Council of Ministers supports.
Jacobs said everyone should be able to reflect on decisions they have made and if necessary, retract those decisions and also apologize if necessary. She said the events between the Ombudsman and the Minister was a great learning experience and no one is too big to apologize neither are they too big to move forward after mistakes are being made. The Prime Minister further said that everyone should pay attention to how they communicate, and the events last week is not something new because it has happened before. However, the letter to the Ombudsman got the attention and she hopes this will allow a change in the culture on St. Maarten.
In responding to questions posed by SMN News regarding the letter, the Prime Minister confirmed that she did not see the letter prior to it being sent to the Ombudsman last week since there is communication between the Ombudsman and each Ministry to which she has no purview.
Meeting scheduled with Ombudsman and COM.
Jacobs said that after the letter was sent discussions took place in the Council of Ministers and they have decided as the Council of Ministers to have a meeting with the Ombudsman to further discuss communication between government and the Ombudsman since there must be understanding on both sides on how communication is perceived. Jacobs said the discussions and decision took place on Tuesday and there have been other recommendations and or concerns that were brought forward to the government. The Prime Minister said the last time government held a meeting with the Ombudsman was at the beginning of 2021 and she believes it’s time for another meeting to be held so parties can share concerns and work on their communication skills in general.
The Prime Minister also confirmed that the Minister of VROMI also finalized the answers to the questions the Ombudsman posed and that was sent to her last Friday while the retraction and apology letter was sent on Monday. Jacobs said that the Ministry of VROMI (Minister of VROMI) have updated the Council of Ministers whereby they are working on collaborating with the Ombudsman because the Ministry of VROMI is busy with its own systemic investigation since the entire Council of Ministers including her as Prime Minister is very much concerned that certain information is not available at the Ministry of VROMI but can be found in the public domain such as on social media, parliament or even at the office of the Ombudsman. The Prime Minister said that if a person files a complaint against the government and the government does not have the information in order to investigate then they would want to have a collaboration with the Ombudsman so that the information could be provided to the government. She urged everyone that has the information to send it to the relevant Ministries so that proper investigation.
Prime Minister Jacobs said it is quite alarming that St. Maarten has created a culture where information is leaked to members of the media, on social media, to politicians, and others. She said she should have opened her statements with the concerns she has with the leaking of information which threatens everyone's integrity. She said it is reprehensible for persons including media personalities to share government documents via social media. The Prime Minister said the burden does not only with reporters that have chosen to share government documents on social media, but she has seen this behavior by politicians, members of parliament, and also members of the community all of which borders on their integrity. Jacobs made clear she is looking into the legal ramifications of the leaking of documents that ended up in the public domain. She made clear that it is the government’s responsibility to safeguard the integrity of government and reminded that all civil servants to an oath of confidentiality and not sharing government documents externally.
The Prime Minister said that if laws have to adjust for the perpetrators to be dealt with according to the law, then that too will happen.
