POND ISLAND--The vacancy advertisement seeking the National Recovery Bureau chief is out, but that is just one step in the herculean task of setting up the bureau that will manage the country’s long list of projects to be funded by the Dutch recovery trust fund.
The bureau will be staffed by some 20 people in addition to its chief. The chief’s and staff’s salaries will be paid not by government, but via the trust fund administered by the World Bank.
Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin said in the Council of Ministers press briefing Wednesday that the advertisements for the chief and staff members will be published locally and via the St. Maarten House in The Hague.
The hope is that the advertisements will attract eager qualified St. Maarteners at home and abroad to apply to staff the vital bureau.
Recruitment will be executed in a “transparent way” and in accordance with World Bank standards, said the prime minister.
The recovery bureau will have as one of its guiding documents the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). That plan will not contain projects for funding, but guidelines to follow in the “build back better” drive.
Speaking of the entire recovery process, Romeo-Marlin said, “Difficult choices are ahead” for government and the community, as the Dutch recovery fund “will not cover all” the country needs.
