Marigot:--- The newly elected Territorial Council of St. Martin which is headed by the RRR government held their first territorial council meeting on Thursday.
During the first meeting of the council, several elected council members were designated to serve on various committees.
President of the Council Alain Richardson will be heading the EPIC at the Office du Tourisme, other elected officials designated to be part of the EPIC board are Questel Rollande, Gros Desormeaux Alain, Santos Pauline Antero de Jesus, Paines Jermin Nadine, Jeanne Vanterpool Rogers, Daniel Gibbs, and Annette Philips Manuel. Alain Richardson was elected as the President of the of the Tourism Office unanimously by the twenty three member council. President Richardson wants to hold the position of the president of the EPIC for a period of one year in order to change the image of the Office du Tourisme since the organization has had a bad reputation over the past years. President Richardson said during the first year as President of the Office du Tourisme he will make the necessary changes and ensure that the Office du Tourisme is fully functional before passing the torch on to another member of the board.
The presidents of Semsamar, Port, CTOS, Hospital, Bethany Home, will be elected by the administration council of those establishments. Only the president of the tourism office was elected on Thursday by the territorial council members, as the organic law stipulates.
First Vice President Aline Hanson has been designated to chair the Semsamar board. The board of Semsamar will have fourth vice president Wendell Cocks along with Gros Desormeaux Alain, Jeanne Vanterpool Rogers, Rosette Gumbs-Lake, Aline Hanson, and Daniel Gibbs.
Thursday's Territorial Council meeting had 15 agenda points and it was described as one of the most productive council meetings to be held since St. Martin became a Collectivity. President Richardson said that the elected members of the council worked very hard to make sure everything was in order for the territorial council meeting.
President Richardson told La Voix St. Martin that he had an informal meeting with the minority leader Daniel Gibbs on Wednesday where they discussed in advance the various committees and the how they intend to establish them prior to Thursday's meeting. Efforts are now being made by the council to have the territorial council meetings held in the English language. The meeting was aired live on La Voix St. Martin (101.5 FM).