“Formateur” Theodore Heyliger entered pretty much uncharted territory when in that capacity he met with representatives of the General Pension Fund APS to discuss its local investments (see related story). The task of forming a new government traditionally involves mostly bringing prospective governing partners together and updating the Governor on the progress, although some consultations with other influential bodies such as the Council of Advice and the Social Economic Council are not uncommon.
The United Democrats leader had already announced that he wanted to take his time in the interest of stability and to put major departure points on paper to ensure continuity as the country recovers from Hurricane Irma. Hearing from APS was considered important to preparing a government programme.
But any time there needs to be a coalition for majority backing in Parliament, more than one party would logically want input in the main policy document for the next four years. Up to now there is no indication which of the three other three parties with seats in the legislature that may be and what impact it would have on such a programme, especially as only a party colleague accompanied Heyliger in the talks.
Perhaps the latter, the only candidate on all six lists on the ballot to earn his seat outright with personal votes, is thinking not so much about who gets what in terms of the usual political negotiations on Ministries, portfolios, functions, etc., but how St. Maarten can best be steered out of a very difficult situation caused primarily by severe damage to the hospitality industry and in particular stayover tourism accommodations.
Investments are important to that effort and a catastrophic natural disaster like the one the islands recently experienced could even be reason to re-examine priorities in that regard. One could wonder, for example, whether a parking garage on Pond Island planned by APS is still as good a choice under the current circumstances, including a regularly burning dump nearby, as it was before.
Of course, the public sector’s pension fund should never take irresponsible risks and must always seek a decent return, but APS has already proven it can play a meaningful role in the Dutch side’s development. Even though there is the 550 million euros in rebuilding assistance made available by the Netherlands via the World Bank, it would behove St. Maarten to take initiative on its own where possible and show goodwill in the process.
As the saying goes, “God helps those who help themselves.”
