PHILIPSBURG--President of the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association (SHTA) Emil Lee is of the opinion that St. Maarten has a unique opportunity to reinvent and re-engineer government administratively and urged the relevant officials not to waste this opportunity.

Referring specifically to the constitutional change status, Lee said streamlining government operations, making government more efficient, more customer-friendly and more impactful should be of the utmost priority.

"Perhaps these things are being done. These comments are not meant as SHTA's intentions to tell government what to do. My point is simple. Don't be afraid of radical change, it is inevitable," Lee said. He was speaking at the SHTA's General Membership Meeting on Thursday evening.

"When someone tells you something can't be done, frame it against all the incredible things that have been done and don't assume it is true," Lee said, adding that implementing a statistical unit at the airport, incorporating the Tourism Authority, solving the traffic problems and building a hospitality school, should not be impossible tasks to accomplish for St. Maarten.

"I'm not naïve. I know the solutions may not be easy but there are solutions. But it is my belief, that many of the issues that we speak about year after year can be solved if we are determined and committed," he said.

Lee argued that his comments were similar to what the Foreign Investment Advisory Service or FIAS report outlined in its report in 2001 on what needed to be done to get the Netherlands Antilles back to a good business climate and influence economic growth.

That report mentioned that successful reforms will probably not be possible without significant changes in the administrative set-up of the various governments of the Netherlands Antilles. "The red tape and delays, which are really exceptional compared to other countries around the world, stem in part from excessive duplication and complex procedures both within single island governments and between the two levels of government," Lee said.

He continued: "Government has clearly indicated that there will be human resource challenges, so why not look to simplify the process reducing the administrative red tape and also reducing the burdens on the civil service."

He recommended that the issuing of specific work permits, business licenses, bus permits, taxi permits etc, should be delegated to the civil service with clear rules, policies and authorities. These tasks, he said, should be accompanied by a transparent system of checks and balances.

"In much of the literature on re-engineering government, most recommend the decentralization of government decision making authority to those lower in the hierarchy, empowering the civil service to make effective and timely decisions. Our political leaders would be able to focus on their core tasks of developing strategies, policies and legislation that will shape our country," Lee said.

The SHTA President also said the salaries of our elected officials should also be reviewed and increased, the election process and the way campaigns are financed should be examined and increased transparency would only benefit the electoral process. He also called for greater structural involvement of the stakeholders and community in general in the decision making process.

Three special guests were also invited to the meeting to speak on the topic "10-11-10 The Day After". Attorney Richard Gibson, former Lt. Governor Dennis Richardson and President of the Princess Juliana International Airport Operating Company (PJIAE) Eugene Holiday were invited to form a panel and update SHTA's membership on the constitutional process and how St. Maarten will be "set up" after the target date of 10-10-10.

The SHTA also rescheduled its Board of Directors election to April 8 because of a shortage of members at the meetings. Two-thirds of the total membership has to be present for an election to take place.