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It might sound incredible to many, but the locals of St- Eustatius and Saba have not had direct access to an accredited notary since the end of 2010. Since then, any person or entity from the islands had to get in touch with a notary on Sint-Maarten. This often meant having to fly to the other island as well, which was both costly and time-consuming. While the leadership on Statia and Saba had been trying to bring new notary services to the islands, many professionals deemed the commercial activity there too little to justify a permanent notary office. Many professionals, but not Marcia Bouterse, who has recently been appointed as the new notary for both Statia and Saba.
Major development for Statia and Saba
With the help of Dutch Minister for Legal Protection (Rechtsbescherming) Franc Weerwind, M. Bouterse has visited leaders of both Saba and Statia over the past few weeks and months. In Saba, she met with Governor Jonathan Johnson, Commissioner Rolando Wilson, Government Advisor Gerald Simmons and Mortgage Registrar Robert Zagers, while in Statia she had a meeting with Government Commissioner Alida Francis. These meetings were meant for M. Bouterse to discuss her business plans with both governments, both on the long-term and the short-term.
The talks were a success and as a result, the islands of Statia and Saba will once again boast their own notary services, which should represent a major improvement for both private and commercial life on the islands. M. Bouterse has already started her service offering and has been assured by both local governments that she can count on both public entities to help her get started. After all, the addition of local notary services is good news for the public administration on the islands as well.
More than commercial needs for notary services
The perception that there is not enough business conducted in Saba and Statia in order to justify the setting up of their own notary services is false, says Commissioner Alida Francis. “I am convinced that this service is needed as the island continues to develop”, she stated during her meeting with M. Bouterse, “The high demand for notarial services linked to the mortgage loans is a main priority now. However, I have encouraged Bouterse to inform the community of the wide range of services, including last testament, civil partnerships etc…”.
With mortgage loans, Francis touches on a particularly pressing topic in regard to the need for accredited notary services on Saba and Statia. Land ownership registration rights issues are a major topic on both islands, as well as mortgage loan issues. The absence of an accredited local notary only made these issues worse. Now that M. Bouterse is opening a local office, people from Saba and Statia who are dealing with such issues have a professional to turn to. Of course, parties like the Kadaster in the European Netherlands, the Dutch Ministry of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relation (Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties) and the Public Entity Saba also have their role to play in improving the situation.
“Following the project that was started with the Legal Desk on Saba, a new project has to be worked on in collaboration with all stakeholders”, said Government Advisor Simmons on Saba, “It is important that this project will be done in an inclusive way with the Saba community to ensure that the local historical knowledge of property rights is considered. The notary plays a very important role in this”.
Are you in need of an experienced notary in Saba or Statia? You can get in touch with M. Marcia Bouterse via email here.
You can also always get in touch with Future Islands here for more information.
The basis for this article was originally published on www.statiagovernment.com and others in August 2022.
