Sitting at table (from left): Eldelmiro Jansen of the VROMI Ministry, DComm Head Maurice Lake, Central Voting Bureau Vice-Chairperson Tamara Richardson, Central Voting Bureau Chairperson Jason Rogers, Department of Civil Registry Head Kathy Snijders, Police Chief Inspector Benjamin Gout, Police Chief Carl John and Acting Police Spokesperson Ethelwoldus Josepha. Photo by Dimetri Whitfield.
PHILIPSBURG–Stakeholders from the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI, government’s Department of Civil Registry and Department of Communication DComm, the Central Voting Bureau, and the St. Maarten Police Force KPSM gave an update on the final preparations for Thursday’s snap parliamentary election during a press conference at the House of Parliament on Tuesday morning.
According to the stakeholders, the preparations are in the final stages and everything is scheduled to be in place for the people to elect a new Parliament.
This election presented several challenges, said Central Voting Bureau Chairperson Jason Rogers. In addition to the 23,130 eligible voters, there will be five cruise ships in port on Election Day, bringing more than an estimated 20,000 persons to St. Maarten’s shores.
Department of Civil Registry Head Kathy Snijders said the 100 polling station personnel had had four training sessions to familiarise them with election procedures, the last being held on Monday. “They are all prepared and ready, well-informed about the equipment they need [to use – Ed.] on Election Day,” she said.
Snijders advised persons who have lost their voting cards to come to the Civil Registry office at the Government Administration Building on Pond Island before 5:00pm on Election Day to receive a replacement. Persons who have not received a voting card can similarly go to the Civil Registry office to collect it.
In total, 1,420 voting cards could not be delivered to eligible voters and were returned to the Department of Civil Registry, said Rogers. Of these, 310 had been collected by their owners as of Tuesday morning, said Snijders.
The VROMI Ministry is tasked with setting up the country’s 20 polling stations. According to VROMI’s Eldelmiro Jansen, the ministry installed voting booths at nine polling stations on Tuesday and will install voting booths at the remaining polling stations today, Wednesday.
Police Chief Carl John said “all hands will be on deck” to ensure public safety on Election Day. He confirmed that police personnel from Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao will be flown in to assist in maintaining public order.
One of the police’s priorities on Election Day will be traffic alleviation, said John, adding that with five cruise ships in port, road congestion may become an issue. Therefore, he advises persons against the “tradition” of driving from “polling station to polling station.”
“We are asking the general public to cooperate with taxi and tour bus drivers, as they may need to get through the traffic … to get back to the ships on time,” said John. He also said police may be seen assisting tour buses to by-pass traffic so passengers can make it back to their cruise ships in a timely manner.
John said the police will be using their aerial drone to broadcast a live feed to update persons on the traffic situation. This will be done three times on Election Day and can be seen on the police Facebook page “Police Force of Sint Maarten – Korps Politie Sint Maarten.”
“It is imperative that the general public cooperate in helping the traffic to flow as freely as it possible by making use of the road only when necessary,” said police in a press release on Tuesday evening.
DComm Head Maurice Lake said the department will be broadcasting hourly updates on Election Day on Cable TV Channel 115, starting at 9:00am. The hourly updates will also be broadcast on SXMGOV Radio 107.9FM and streamed live on the Facebook pages of government and Parliament and via government’s website
www.sintmaartengov.org/election2020.
Lake said DComm’s election coverage throughout the day will include interviews with party leaders, political analysts and other persons in the community, as well as public service announcements in English, Dutch, French, Spanish and Creole. DComm will also be airing live election results, starting from 8:00pm when polls close.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/93814-election-preparations-in-final-stages-to-be-completed-soon
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