President Daniel Gibbs and Chief of Staff for RSMA Guadeloupe Colonel Philippe Outtier renew the agreement for “Objective 100” which allows, each year, up to 100 young people from St. Martin to access the training modules offered by RSMA. (Robert Luckock photo)
MARIGOT--On Wednesday, President Daniel Gibbs and Colonel Philippe Outtier, Chief of Staff of the specialised adapted military regiment (Régiment Specialisé Militaire Adapté RSMA) of Guadeloupe, signed the new agreement for “Objective 100”, which allows, each year, up to 100 young people from St. Martin to access the training modules offered by RSMA.
Colonel Outtier represented General Claude Peloux, Commander of the Adapted Military Service.
Since the creation of “Objectif 100” scheme seven years ago, 50 to 95 young people from St. Martin have benefited each year from training provided by RSMA in Guadeloupe.
Thanks to this agreement, young people of the territory have access to a platform of 30 different training modules, ranging from catering trades to agriculture trades, construction and public works, commerce and tourism, driving and car maintenance, administration, and digital and service trades.
The Collectivité has worked with RSMA Guadeloupe to add training courses that are in demand in our territory. The results of RSMA training courses are very encouraging. Some 80 per cent of the graduates find a job at the end of their training, 50 per cent in St. Martin and 50 per cent in Guadeloupe or in other departments. Others chose to continue their training or to join the army directly. For example, two St. Martiners, Chantal Brooks and Juan Carlos Emmanuel, have been working at RSMA in Guadeloupe for many years
Said President Gibbs: “It is important to keep the same number of beneficiaries (100) who have access to these training courses, but we must also go further and open in our territory, not an RSMA, but a local branch with training courses that are lacking in Guadeloupe or Martinique. “
During his participation in the Assises Économiques des Outre-Mer on Tuesday, December 7, the President proposed that an exemption be granted to young people with a criminal record for minor offences, so that they could integrate with RSMA training courses for their re-integration process:
“The presence of a criminal record blocks the re-integration of certain young people who want to train within RSMA. However, these young people need this support more than ever, and should not be refused. I hope that my proposal will be studied quickly,” he added.
The “Objectif 100” agreement has been renewed for a period of 3 years. President Gibbs praised the work of the RSMA teams, led by Colonel Philippe Outtier and the Collectivité, under supervision of its Vice-President Sofia Carti-Codrington, Assistant Director General DGA Jocelyn Elouin and Corine Pineau, in charge of the Collectivité’s reception, information and orientation service (Accueil, Information, Orientation AIO)
The Mission Locale of St. Martin, which was set up on Tuesday, will now take over from the AIO service over the coming months, providing enhanced support for young people in difficulty.
