In his new book How colonialism, greed and corruption destroyed a beautiful country, author Julian Rollocks wrote “Corruption is an export product of wealthy countries, but we as Antilleans are not blameless, as we permitted and still permit greed and corruption to get the best of us.”
Chapter 8, dedicated to the subject, further states “Decolonisation and independence are honourable goals, but the political establishment needs to eliminate the amount of corruption and increase the public’s confidence in order that everyone would feel comfortable moving in a status of more responsibility.” It mentions 10 court cases and scandals of corruption investigations from the 1970s ’til February 15, 2021, and quotes Martin Luther King Jr., who said, “We need leaders not in love with money but in love with justice. Not in love with publicity but in love with humanity.”
Why is this important? Because one often hears rightful complaints over generalising St. Maarten as a modern-day pirate’s nest run by bandits especially in the Netherlands, but rarely about the underlying problem itself: A disconcerting and apparently structural lack of integrity within local politics.
Since Parliament was inaugurated per 10-10-10 more than half a dozen of its members have been under investigation, indicted and in some cases sentenced for unlawful practices. Corruption eats away at the very foundation of any democratic society by turning elections into self-enrichment opportunities.
Stating this reality should in no way be misinterpreted as putting St. Maarten and its people down or suggesting they cannot do better. To the contrary, the implication is that the country, but particularly its elected representatives must do better.
