THE HAGUE--The recently appointed St. Maarten Minister Plenipotentiary Jorien Wuite and Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary Michael Somersall are looking forward to their new task of representing St. Maarten in the Netherlands. They know it won’t be an easy job. “There is a lot of work to do.”
It is a broad task with many facets, both in political The Hague, but also in the diplomatic world, the public and private sector and not to forget the St. Maarteners in the Netherlands. Wuite and Somersall are aware that it will take time, perseverance and convincing to get St. Maarten on the map.
Relations with the Netherlands have to become better, something that is especially important during the period of St. Maarten’s post-hurricane reconstruction which is largely financed by the Dutch government through a US $580 million trust fund managed by the World Bank.
St. Maarten’s image in the Netherlands is very important and needs to improve, said Wuite and Somersall in an interview with The Daily Herald on Thursday. “We have to keep abreast of what is happening here and relay the information back to the St. Maarten government so the appropriate action can be taken,” said Wuite.
The Cabinet of the Minister Plenipotentiary in The Hague is currently drafting a plan which should be ready in the second half of August and sent to the St. Maarten Council of Ministers (COM) for approval. The plan will include an objective basis for the actions that the Cabinet wants to undertake and the important themes that it wants to focus on.
Wuite, a candidate on the United Democrats list, and Somersall, who ran on the slate of the St. Maarten Christian Party, aim to make good use of their knowledge of the St. Maarten government and of the Netherlands. Both Wuite and Somersall have worked for the St. Maarten government and have studied and worked in the Netherlands.
Sometime after completing her studies in Health Care Management at the Rotterdam Erasmus University, Wuite (53) moved to St. Maarten, the island where her mother, Anna Richardson hails from. She worked in several capacities as Sector Director and Secretary General before becoming Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Affairs in January 2018 as part of the cabinet of Leona Marlin-Romeo.
Somersall (46) studied Marketing and Management at the Middle Economic and Administrative Education MEAO in Rotterdam and lived in the Netherlands for 18 years before returning to his native St. Maarten 12 years ago. There, he worked at the Inspection for Public Health as the Head of the Food Safety Inspection.
Wuite and Somersall went into politics because they wanted to become more actively involved in the development of their country. “I saw a lot happening on my island and I wanted to help. You can only make a change happen if you participate, put your money where your mouth is,” said Somersall. “My reason for joining the Christian Party were the principles for which it stands. I felt comfortable with that.”
Wuite said that throughout her career, she has tried to put St. Maarten on the map, improving the relations with the Netherlands and within the Kingdom from the position of equality and the perspective of how St. Maarten can actively contribute to the Kingdom. She put her contacts in The Hague to good use after Hurricane Irma.
“The way we give content to the Kingdom is important. We need to create trust, give respect and foster positive attention. The interaction, feedback and relation of trust with the St. Maarten government needs to work well so the Minister Plenipotentiary can act on a clear mandate in the Kingdom Council of Ministers. We need to be able to express the sentiments and wishes of St. Maarten in the Kingdom Council of Ministers,” said Wuite. Relations and trust need to be built, also to prevent St. Maarten from receiving an instruction from the Kingdom Government.
St. Maarten’s reconstruction, improving St. Maarten’s image in the Netherlands and strengthening the Cabinet of the Minister Plenipotentiary are focal points. “Our people don’t have a positive view of the Cabinet, they don’t know what we do here and what our tasks are. We need more visibility of the Cabinet and of St. Maarten in general in the Netherlands,” said Somersall, who confirmed that the process has started to strengthen the Cabinet and to fill in some of the vacant positions.
Communication is a highly important aspect in fostering stronger relations not only with the Dutch government, but also with the embassies, organisations and other partners. “We are not here to take, but to also give,” said Somersall. He said that Wuite and he would divide the tasks to ensure a maximum output. “We will have a hands-on approach and do this job together.”
Wuite explained that the Cabinet has the task to be the “ears and eyes” for St. Maarten, to “sense the feelings” in the Netherlands and to advise the St. Maarten government. “Having a solid knowledge of the dossiers, keeping in close contact with the ministries back home and good preparations are key. It is a two-way street,” she said.
Maintaining diplomatic contacts with embassies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is another task of the Cabinet. International relations, trade opportunities, cultural and sports exchanges, contacts with organisations and the private sector. “It all needs to be built up.” She noted that the Minister Plenipotentiary has a clear task on Kingdom level, secured in the Charter. But around that there are other relations that need to be maintained and fostered such as the Dutch ministries and the Dutch parliament.
The St. Maarteners living in the Netherlands are an important group that the Cabinet wants to have close relations with. Not only the students, but also the young professionals and other St. Maarteners. “We need to win the trust of this group back,” said Wuite, who announced that a Facebook page has been created which should lead to a better understanding for St. Maarteners in the Netherlands, but also back home of what the Cabinet does.
Wuite and Somersall want to improve the website of the Cabinet of the Minister Plenipotentiary so people can easily find what they are looking for, including information on the consular tasks that the Cabinet has. “There is a lot of work to be done, but we are ready for the challenge,” said Somersall. (By Suzanne Koelega)
