GREAT BAY, St. Martin (February 10, 2000) – An Introduction to Government – Island territory St. Maarten by Louis Duzanson is scheduled to become the first book published in St. Martin for the new century.
How do the island and executive councils work? What is the authority of the Lt. Governor? Who is the Island Secretary? What is the public budget? An Introduction to Government answers these questions and many more, says House of Nehesi Publishers? vp Jacqueline Sample. “We commissioned Mr. Duzanson to write this book to fill a vacuum of information that should be readily available for our students and the general public.”
This is the first book of its sort written in St. Martin and in English since the “island territory” structure in the South was set up about 50 years ago. “An Introduction to Government has a basic a-b-c approach and it is the closest title we have published to a school textbook,” adds House of Nehesi’s projects director Lasana M. Sekou. “The people that a government system affects, whether they set up that system or not, should know the basic workings from the time that they are young in order to consciously work on determining their destiny. Duzanson’s approach is almost clinical but not cold. He uses the Islands Regulation and the constitution as the legal foundation for an informative but easy read.”
One of the surprises of An Introduction to Government is the author. While he is considered the foremost election expert in the South of St. Martin, and an unassuming authority on the island territory’s government history, Duzanson typifies the elusive bureaucrat. Few media have been able to interview him at length, much less get an article out of this head of the Facilitation (general affairs) Department. Yet, he is probably the most consulted senior civil servant by media, researchers and politicians on election and government affairs. House of Nehesi plans to release An Introduction to Government in March.