The Dutch Government has agreed to some significant changes for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba (see related stories). While it’s obvious that their current status of overseas special public entities of the Netherlands did not come without problems, the willingness
shown by The Hague to tackle these does bode well for the future.
There hadn’t been too many alternatives at the time either, because the Netherlands Antilles was being dismantled per 10-10-10. The newly-created autonomous countries Curaçao and St. Maarten were neither willing nor in a position to take over the responsibility of the former Central Government in Willemstad for what was often called “the three smaller islands” that due primarily to the size of their economies could not reasonably be expected to completely fend for themselves.
This meant that even though Statia had voted for the status quo, joining Bonaire and Saba in establishing direct ties with the Netherland really had been the only realistic option. There were bound to be drawbacks from the beginning, but also prospects for progress down the road.
The latter may have taken a bit longer to achieve than most had hoped and brought issues of its own, but one hardly can deny that many of the greatest concerns, including the standard of living, are gradually being addressed. It’s important as well to remember the difficulties of the past; for example, with the Solidarity Fund instated when Aruba left the Antillean constellation back in 1986.
Some people have a natural tendency to act like everything used to be better, while there are those who seem to think the grass is always greener on the other side. Establishing the Caribbean Netherlands, although certainly not ideal, was simply making the best of a potentially bad situation.
The intentions now announced regarding a social minimum, spending tax exemptions and incentives to stimulate the economy and employment are part of an ongoing process that is still underway. In that sense the glass should actually be seen as half full, rather than half empty.
