COLE BAY–Members of the St. Maarten Police Force now have new representatives to lobby on their behalf, with the official swearing-in of the new board of the Nationale Algemene Politie Bond (NAPB) police union during a ceremony at Carl’s Unique Inn in Cole Bay on Thursday.
New NAPB president Rogerrel Eugenio Mauricia said last night that the new board will hit the ground running in the best interest of its members.
In addition to Mauricia, also sworn in were Richel Doran, Marcus Pantophlet, Belinda Bryson, Janine Philips and Fabiola Brown. Sworn in to the NAPB congress were John Boyrard, Darion Every and former president Jeanine Peterson, the first woman to hold the position in the union, who was not present due to illness.
The union’s executive board will comprise Pantophlet as Vice President, Philips as Vice President, Doran as Secretary and Bryson as Assistant Secretary.
In a speech from Peterson delivered by the Master of Ceremonies, Peterson said she was honoured to hand over the baton of presidency to Mauricia and it had been a great honour and satisfaction to serve as the first woman president of NAPB.
“While I was happy to serve as your leader, the past three years was not easy for my board and me. I took over the position with many challenges and a long list of things that needed to be put in place for the membership of the union,” Peterson said in her speech.
“The membership of the union was ignored for many years and there were many benefits that were due to the membership that were being denied and delayed.
Thanks to the hard work of my board and our supporters, we were able to successfully bring a number of positive benefits for the union’s membership over the past three years. This includes making sure that the police got their insurance package – an accomplishment that the NAPB board is very proud of.
“The board was also able to ensure that the administrative workers get the salary scales as police. And last, but not least, we were able to successfully push for the finalisation of the rechtspostitie, the function book and the salary scales, as these were long overdue.”
Peterson thanked the membership for putting their confidence in her and thanked the former NAPB board for their hard work and dedication to making sure that the board worked in the best interest of the police force.
“Thanks also to my family, to the police management and to all the union’s partners, whom we have worked with in the past to make things happen for the Police Force of St. Maarten,” she said.
She wished the incoming president, board and congress “much success as they continue to fight for what is right for the men and women in blue in this country.”
Mauricia had told this newspaper earlier that he plans to be transparent and run the board with integrity. His main plans are to work on internal damage control; to attract back members who had left the union in the past, “once we can convince them that we need them,” and to motivate members of the NAPB.
He also plans to visit the various departments which the union represents and form a workgroup in each department. Planning social events for members; having a good working relationship with the union’s partners; organising courses for members as well as having workshops and lectures are also amongst his plans.
Elections for the new board were held on Wednesday, June 27. Of the 151 members who were eligible to vote, 60 went out to cast their ballots for representatives of their choice.
Dignitaries present at the swearing-in ceremony included Chief of Police Carl John and Justice Minister Cornelius de Weever, amongst others.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/79431-new-napb-board-sworn-in-to-hit-ground-running
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