The islands where this newspaper is distributed were kept pretty busy in the past week dealing with two tropical storms that swept through the area. They were mostly spared serious effects, certainly when compared to the deadly flooding in Dominica. The latter also goes to show that the difference between the uneventful passage of such unpredictable weather systems and the kind of tragedy that unfolded there can be smaller than many may have realised; in this case mainly because most of the rain was concentrated in the southern part of the disturbance.
People who complain about the closure of schools and businesses while the impact did not seem so severe should keep that in mind.
Good news also was received from The Hague, as the looming crisis over Dutch plans to beef up law enforcement in St. Maarten appears to have been resolved, at least for now (see related story). The joint statement by the three ministers concerned indicates that in fact it will be a cooperative effort involving local law enforcement officials, where mention was made of strengthening the local Police Force in addition to tackling corruption and border-crossing crime undermining society.
Time will tell, but for now the air has been cleared considerably, which hopefully will help achieve what is important to the population: a law-abiding, safer and more secure community. That definitely would be in the best interest of the island, its people and ultimately the Kingdom of the Netherlands as a whole.
All in all, there’s enough reason to be thankful today.
