SXMElections.com

MARIGOT--A farewell cocktail party was held in the Préfecture on Tuesday to say goodbye to Secretary-General of the Préfecture for St. Martin and St. Barths Matthieu Doligez who is to assume a new post in Gap in the Alps of Haute Provence, Southern France, as Cabinet Director for the Préfet.

As is customary on these occasions, speeches were given followed by a presentation of gifts.

Those paying tribute to his service included Préfète Anne Laubies, President of the Collectivité Aline Hanson and his counterpart on the Dutch side, André Hoeneveld, Director of the Cabinet of Governor Eugene Holiday.

Doligez spent three years and eleven months in St. Martin, arriving in November 2011, as Chef de Cabinet until his more recent promotion to Secretary-General.

“You very quickly understood the territory using your skills and human qualities and we thank you for your contribution,” Hanson said in her remarks. “We worked on many issues together, I cannot name them all, but the Abattoir, the European cross border programme, Cité Scolaire, and more recently the creation of the Green Brigade comes to mind. And, of course, we lived through Hurricane Gonzalo. It is in times like these that we recognise the value of a person.”

“I am in no doubt your experience will be very useful in Gap, which is a small city of 40,000 inhabitants and the youth issues there are much the same. We will miss your tall, slender figure pacing the corridors of our institutions and your presence during official ceremonies,” Hanson mentioned.

Beyond working hours Doligez was an avid beach tennis player and on occasions won local competitions with his team mates.

He described his experience in St. Martin as “exceptional” before thanking everyone he worked with.

Aside from the numerous files he worked on, he said the visit of President François Hollande on May 8, was easily the most important but ultimately most satisfying of all his tasks.

“We had two months to prepare for his visit. It was a great moment for the territory and for St. Martin’s history. After the visit we worked on turning the President’s proposals into reality and we are still working on that. The Préfète is going to Paris next week to continue the follow up.”

André Hoeneveld noted he had enjoyed several meetings with Matthieu Doligez adding the cordial meetings on cooperation clearly enhanced the relationship between the two sides of the island.

Doligez, who was accompanied by his wife and children, was presented with a number of gifts by the three speakers. They included the Préfecture medal from Préfète Laubies, the Collectivité medal and an acrylic colour painting of Baie Nettle from artist Yves Jhigai presented by President Hanson. André Hoeneveld and Doligez’s personal assistant Chantal Alphonse also presented gifts.