Results Mediation Public Entity St. Eustatius
From Monday, March 7th, 2022, until Friday, March 11th, 2022, the former Prime Ministers of the former Netherlands Antilles, Suzy Camelia-Römer and Maria Liberia-Peters, held meetings with the individual members of the Island Council and the Deputy Registrar on one side and with the Government Commissioners and the Island Secretary of the Public Entity St. Eustatius on the other side. The mediators were supported by Alba Martijn, former Ombudsman of Curaçao.
The meetings were held to assist in a mediation attempt between both authorities, the Island Council and the Government Commissioners, based on the motion of the Island Council of December 23rd, 2021, to which the Government Commissioners have agreed.
On February 18th and March 2nd, 2022, the mediators presented a Plan of Action and, respectively, a Plan of Action part 2, to both the Island Council and the Government Commissioners. In the Plan of Action part 2, the approach is indicated which included an explanation of the work process and work schedule.
To structure the conversations as much as possible, the mediators formulated a number of questions with the request to answer in writing prior to the conversation. The parties involved were requested to indicate where they believe the problem lies, why this is of importance to the person concerned and what the person expects from the mediation and the mediator. In addition, it was requested to assess how the other party views the problem and what, according to the person concerned, could be important for the other party. The parties were also requested to reflect on possible solutions to the challenges in the current situation.
Both the Council members and the Government Commissioners had the freedom to submit other comments or proposals.
The first days were considered as the exploration phase, during which the Island Council members could discuss the identified bottlenecks with the intention of getting to the heart of the conflict, identifying wishes and interests or formulating them with a view to possible matters that are important for continued good cooperation in the future.
On the second day of mediation, Tuesday March 8th, 2022, the two Government Commissioners and the Island Secretary of the Public Entity St. Eustatius were interviewed, and on Wednesday March 9th, the Deputy Clerk of the Island Council was interviewed. Further discussions
with the Island Council and Government Commissioners jointly took place on Thursday, March 10th and on Friday, March 11th, 2022.