Philipsburg:--- The chairlady of the parliament of St. Maarten Gracita Arrindell and her assistant general secretary Frank Hanse is busy preparing for the second parliamentary meeting which is scheduled to be held in the week of October 25th 2010. Arrindell told reporters on Thursday that while the entire process is new to St. Maarten they are doing their very best to make sure the state of affairs and parliament are secure.
To listen to the interview, select the audio from the list below:
The chairlady said government is expecting to have their location ready by October 25th where the second meeting will be held. She said while the intention was for them to get the building on the night of October 9th the preparations were delayed due the passing of hurricane Earl and the rain from tropical depression Otto.
On the agenda for the second meeting are, the validation of the credentials of the incoming members of parliament, to approve the rules of order, and to establish the committees for the different ministries in parliament. The members of parliament will also be preparing that which is necessary for proper functioning of the parliament of country St. Maarten.
Arrindell said so far the parliament of St. Maarten does not have the required amount of staff and the members of parliament is currently located at the old parliament building will be reviewing applications from persons who applied for certain positions.
The chairlady made clear that parliament will be using a speedy procedure to hire persons to occupy key positions since these positions must be filled for her to carry out her duties. Arrindell said a decision was taken on Wednesday to appoint some interim staff members so that she can function and to move the people's business forward.