SPEECH OF THE GOVERNOR OF ARUBA AT THE OCCASSION OF THE INSTALLATION OF THE GOVERNOR’S CHAIR “PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN SMALL-‐SCALE LEGAL ORDERS” AT THE OPENING OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ARUBA, SEPTEMBER 9, 2011. Ladies and Gentlemen, Good evening, Please allow me to express my highest appreciation to the Board of Trustees of the University for granting me the opportunity to address you this evening before the official opening of the academic year. … Ladies and Gentlemen, This year marks the 25th anniversary of our Status Aparte. Throughout this year we are commemorating this milestone on various occasions and at various places. These occasions give us the opportunity to honor the uniqueness of the Aruban culture and its history and to reflect on what it has meant to Aruba to obtain its separate status within the Kingdom of The Netherlands.
Status Aparte led to the development of a new administrative structure. This provided Aruba with new independent authority for decision-‐making in key areas of government matters. This made it possible for Aruba to increasingly manage more of its own affairs. To a large extent we have been quite successful at managing our own affairs. Specifically in the area of tourism we have been able to make the kind of choices that has contributed to the flourishing of our economy. And likewise, we have been able to give shape to our own choices in many other areas, thereby significantly contributing to the development of our community. Of course, the last 25 years have also yielded many learning opportunities. The obtaining of executive powers never comes without responsibilities. Assuming the responsibilities of running a country, is no sinecure (or: is no easy burden). The array of duties is extensive and the demands placed on executing these duties only increase with time. And certainly, in a small scale societies, it poses thát much more of a challenge, to perform these duties in a qualitatively good and transparent way . As Governor, one of my main duties is to serve as guardian of good governance. Of course, I do my best to fulfill this obligation daily in a meaningful way. From a practical perspective and based on my own experience, I have come to realize that views and opinions about good governance are never static; they are subject to constant
change. More over: in our young nation Aruba, we can speak of a dynamic constitutional framework. Together we find ourselves at times still searching for the right form of governance that befits the scale of our small nation. This very same search will repeat itself yet again in the even younger countries of the Kingdom – I refer to Curacao and St. Maarten. There is nothing wrong with that. And certainly not, if we are willing to learn; and are open to best practices. I am confident that there will always be different solutions that we can come up with. It is from this conviction that I believe that it is of utmost importance to continue to develop the quality of our public administration and take it to a higher level of attention. There is no other better suited than the university, to study how we can optimize the functioning of public administration. It can do precisely this, because, as a university, it can disassociate from the pressures of daily operations and do so in an environment of academic freedom. It goes without saying that, at the University of Aruba, it suits to do this study with the focus on small scale legal orders. I trust that this is a timely task for the University of Aruba as it is developing itself into a multidisciplinary center of knowledge and can therefore provide a fertile breeding ground for ideas. [If my information is correct, the keynote speaker for this evening, mr
Mark Kirton, will be giving special attention to this topic in his address.] Based on this line of thought, I have decided – in accordance with the Minister of Justice and Education and the Board of Trustees of the University of Aruba-‐to institute a Governor’s Chair on the subject of Public Administration in Small-‐Scale Legal Orders. This extraordinary chair will be financed by my Cabinet for a period of 3 years. As we speak, we are in the process of appointing a professor for this Chair. The appointment of the professor for the Chair of Public Administration in Small-‐Scale Legal Orders will include research, writing of publications, teaching, giving public lectures, and organizing of symposia, to contribute to the knowledge-‐creation and induce academic, as well as public discussions, on public administration in our, but also other, small scale legal orders. It is my hope that our future managers and administrators, schooled right here in the University of Aruba, shall reap the benefits of the products of this Chair. And I certainly expect that this shall contribute to the further development of public administration in Aruba. That is why it seems to me that the Chair of Public Administration in Small-‐Scale Legal Orders constitutes an appropriate gift to Aruba,
the University of Aruba, and ourselves, on the occasion of the celebration of our 25th anniversary of Status Aparte. Honorable Board of Trustees, I thank you once more for the opportunity granted. Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you for your attention. = 0 =