October 10 is Constitution Day, the anniversary of 10-10-10 when the Dutch side became an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. By decision of Government it is observed on the second Monday of October, in this case October 9.
The question is whether the public holiday should continue under the extremely difficult circumstances the island presently faces, following the catastrophic passage of record-breaking Hurricane Irma and subsequent threats by also major Hurricanes José and Maria. After all, right now there isn’t much to celebrate.
Moreover, education stopped for almost an entire month and the backlog regarding classes is already considerable. An unplanned school day could thus be used to help catch up.
In addition, the local business community has suffered enormously not just from storm damage, but also widespread looting. Many stores are just reopening and trying to bounce back, so another day without sales is most likely not very welcome.
For clarity’s sake, Constitution Day is not usually a mandatory shop closure date so they could operate anyhow, but would have to pay employees extra to show up only on a voluntary basis. Most companies probably can’t afford such at this particular time.
Truth be told, it isn’t a very popular holiday either, as not everyone is happy with what the current status has brought. Perhaps this year it would be better to focus on St. Maarten/St/ Martin Day on November 11, when the first post-Irma regular cruise ship call is also expected.
Now that will be worth a celebration.
