“Nothing is moving”: Government legal and personnel affairs departments under chronic staffing shortage, stagnating any progress

GREAT BAY--The Government of St. Maarten’s Legal Affairs Department and Personnel Affairs Department are currently operating under severe strain, resulting in workflows that have slowed to near standstill. "Nothing is moving," a senior government official told The Peoples' Tribune who spoke on condition of anonymity.

This situation is not attributed to the performance of current staff, but rather to chronic understaffing and structural pressure that have left personnel overstretched and under sustained operational stress. The outcome has been significant delays in the processing and finalization of critical legal instruments, agreements, and legislative proposals required by ministries to carry out their mandates effectively for the people of St. Maarten. Both departments fall under the Ministry of General Affairs, headed by Prime Minister Luc Mercelina.

The Personnel Affairs Department is presently operating with only two senior advisors responsible for servicing six ministries across government. The Ministry of Justice maintains its own personnel affairs unit and is therefore excluded from this arrangement. The two senior advisors are supported by three officers. One of the senior advisors is at pensionable age and she has been asked to stay on for two additional years. The Personnel Department doesn't even have secretary nor a section head.

Personnel affairs work involves the application and interpretation of laws and regulations, as well as the detailed preparation of legally binding documents. Assigning three ministries to each senior advisor places an unsustainable workload on a limited staff complement, creating an environment that virtually guarantees burnout and prolonged processing times.

The situation within Legal Affairs is similarly constrained. Reports indicate that only two legislative lawyers are currently responsible for handling the full scope of government legal documentation. As a result, ministries and cabinet offices are reportedly being advised to outsource certain legal matters to third-party firms in order to move files forward. While this may offer temporary relief in isolated cases, it underscores the depth of the capacity shortfall within the department itself.

Ministries across government have raised alarm that numerous pieces of legislation, Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and other formal agreements are sitting in the Legal Affairs Department for extended periods, in some cases going back months without resolution. These delays are affecting routine governance processes as well as reform initiatives and collaborative agreements that require legal clearance before they can be executed, published, or implemented.

This situation has prompted concerns that the delay in legal vetting undermines government efficiency, hampers implementation of planned reforms, and ultimately affects service delivery to residents and stakeholders who rely on timely government action.

Reports from government operations and implementation agendas highlight that the Legal Affairs Department continues to struggle with capacity constraints and access to necessary legal systems and resources, which have impeded progress on legislative work and related tasks.

According to government implementation agendas, strengthening the legislative function and expanding the Legal Affairs Department’s capacity has been an ongoing priority, including improving access to digital legal systems and subscriptions to legal literature, but these efforts have not yet fully resolved the bottlenecks.

Government officials and stakeholders have emphasized the need for urgent investment in the Legal Affairs Department to ensure that critical administrative and legal work is completed in a timely manner. Proposals under ongoing government reform efforts include strengthening legal expertise within departments, hiring additional legislative lawyers, and establishing clearer procedural steps for handling legislation and agreements to reduce processing times and eliminate unnecessary hold-ups.

"The Ministers will start bypassing Legal Affairs very soon if this isn't rectified. Literally nothing is getting done or they will have to wait months."

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