Justice Minister Nathalie Tackling’s talks on border reform in Aruba (see Tuesday newspaper) included meeting US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) representatives to gain insight into preclearance operations there. The option was once being eyed in St. Maarten too, but no provisions for such were made during the reconstruction of Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) after it was damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017.
Since then American officials cited “other current interests” and indicated the issue no longer had priority for now. What also played a role is that although Washington D.C. reportedly paid for part of the related facilities when established inside “Aeropuerto Reina Beatrix” at the time, it was apparently not willing to do so again elsewhere.
With the present ongoing non-payment of Transport Security Administration (TSA) employees at American airports and resulting widespread absenteeism among them due to the budget stand-off in Congress, this is probably not the best time to once more actively pursue preclearance. Nevertheless, seeing that 53.9% of air arrivals at PJIA were from the US last year, it makes all the sense in the world.
While people complain about traffic, a lot of it comes from the airport particularly during the afternoon in the Simpson Bay area and beyond. Processing incoming American passengers more quickly could prove a help in that regard.
If the minister’s efforts somehow lead to getting this matter back on the proverbial table, it might well be worth considering.
