Public Island Council meeting postponed

The Governor’s Office released a public notice on the postponement the Island Council Meeting, previously scheduled for October 3. The official last minute
notice read: “After consultation with the two fraction leaders of the Island Council, I would hereby care to inform the public that the scheduled Island Council
meeting to be held on Thursday, October 4, has been postponed until further notice. As soon as a new date is known the public will be duly informed.”

The scheduled Public Island Council Meeting had as agenda item the “Release Island Registrar” proposal. Registrar Els Boers had been asked to handover her office Friday, September 28, on the presumption that the Island Council had already formally decided her dismissal; however, only in the October 4 Island
Council meeting were its members formally asked to discuss and decide postfactum on releasing Boers from her function.

While she no longer works, Boers remains titular until the dismissal is officially voted in a council meeting. Wednesday’s meeting was supposed to take place in the absence of an island registrar. As mentioned in the Central Committee meeting last week, the matter had been decided within the Windward Islands Peoples’ Movement (WIPM) party, which holds the majority in the Island Council.

The next item on Wednesday’s Island Council agenda would have been the proposal of the appointment of a new island registrar. The swift, hoped-for new appointment raises questions since prior searches for the vacancy lasted months and required the visit of specially qualified, experienced candidates from The Netherlands The controversial swift replacement of the registrar was not the only sensitive item on the agenda. The executive council hoped to pass in the same meeting several high-stakes, time-sensitive proposals before their scheduled trip to The Netherlands. These are “Budget amendments 2012,” “Budget
2013,” and “Division of the shares NV GEBE.”

A document released September 28, and signed by Governor Jonathan Johnson is titled “Release of Mrs. E. Boers from the function of Island Registrar right away.” It notes “the end of the year contract has been expired with Mrs. E. Boers, Krachtig Lokaal Bestuur, since October 1, 2012. Therefore, Mrs. E. Boers stopped doing the job at the Island Registrar since October 1, 2012.” The document writes that “formality requires the Island Council to take a formal decision
about the release.” The same released document gives as “Reason Council decision: The ending of the year contract between the Island Council of Saba and Mrs. E. Boers” with no further basis given or evaluation of performance in office.

The document also informs that “the decision of the Island Council will be submitted to the Kingdom Representative for approval. The approval can only be withheld on account of contravention of the law or the public interest.” The document was released last Friday, September 28, taking for granted a decision that still has to be formally taken within an Island Council meeting. The “proposal” gives no alternatives, the explanation and overview of the policy proposal options reads “NA” (not applicable).

Source: The Daily Herald, October 5, 2012