Culture
Rafael Boasman: civil servant, union leader and Prime Minister of Sint Maarten (2017–2018)
A profile of Rafael Boasman, the long-serving civil servant and union leader who was Minister of Justice and then Prime Minister of Sint Maarten from November 2017 to January 2018.
By SXM Daily ·
Rafael Boasman spent decades in Sint Maarten's civil service and union movement before serving as a minister and, from 24 November 2017 to 15 January 2018, as Prime Minister.
Photo: Defensie, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Civil service and union career
According to the Integrity Chamber's biography, Boasman worked in Rotterdam for the land-surveying and public-registers section of the Dutch housing ministry before returning to the islands. On St. Maarten he became civil registrar and Deputy Island Secretary to the Island Council. The Integrity Chamber says he was for many years a member and chair of the GOA, the consultative body on civil-servant matters, president of the Windward Islands Civil Servants Union (WICSU), and a labour mediator for Sint Maarten, Saba and Sint Eustatius.
Education and boards
According to the Integrity Chamber, he trained at the Teachers Training College Zuid-West Nederland, holds an associate degree in Antillean law from the University of the Netherlands Antilles, and has certificates in public administration and government archives. The same biography says he chaired the St. Maarten Telecommunication Holding Company, sat on the board of Princess Juliana International Airport Holding, and has long been a Lions Club member.
Minister
According to the Integrity Chamber, Boasman was Minister of Health, Social Development and Labour from 7 September to 19 November 2015. From 20 December 2016 he was Minister of Justice, also holding Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication until 4 April 2017.
Prime Minister
He became Prime Minister on 24 November 2017, according to the Integrity Chamber's biography, and held the premiership and the Justice portfolio until 15 January 2018, when Leona Marlin-Romeo was sworn in.
Sources
- https://www.integritychamber.sx/r-a-rafael-boasman/
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rafael_Boasman_2017.jpg
Source: https://www.integritychamber.sx/r-a-rafael-boasman/
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