Advisory Board member and businesswoman Iris Liu.
ST. EUSTATIUS--The first two meetings of the new Advisory Board, installed by the Central Government to represent the population of St. Eustatius, have been welcomed, but not without a certain amount of criticism from various quarters.
Chaired by Dutch Government Commissioner Mike Franco, the Board consists of 15 public representatives. However, no information has been published as to how these representatives were selected or about the tasks that are legally assigned to them.
Local businesswoman Iris Liu is one of the members on the Board. “Our first two meetings were very informative and interesting,” she told The Daily Herald. “It was nice to be asked what our opinion is. Our first meeting was more of an introduction. Our second centred on issues about roads, recently-discovered slave remains and tourism.”
Plans to remove slave remains from NuStar-owned land have raised questions. The remains were discovered on the coast of Godet, a location close to the island’s slave depot of the 18th century. The human bones were dug up by St. Eustatius Centre for Archaeology (SECAR) and are now kept in boxes in their office.
Members of the Advisory Board were asked about their opinion on the re-interment of the remains at a more respectful site, such as a proposed monument in Wilhelmina Park, where there already is a plaque commemorating 150 years of emancipation from slavery.
Asked for advice, Monuments Director and historian Walter Hellebrand, replied: “Unfortunately, the Godet area – one of the historically most precious of the island – is also one of the most critically hit by erosion. However, digging up and removing should not be the solution. This very important site needs protection from further erosion. It is worth it.”
His advice was to re-inter the remains in an especially dedicated monument near to where they were originally buried: on the site of the former slave depot behind the Waterfort, as this would also fit in with further proposals for the area.
A draft policy document for tourism presented to the Advisory Board by St. Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation, has also sparked criticism from tourism stakeholders on the island.
One of them said, “The policy is all about throwing more money where little has been achieved over the last six years. The policy proposes to use funds to make a masterplan. But it is better to adjust the existing masterplan and then to decide on funding projects later.
“All funds spent on promoting the island should be based on results. And those results should be measured. The island has a million stories to tell about its heritage, tourism, and nature, but it remains the biggest secret in the tourism sector,” a restaurant owner said.
“Furthermore, many sustainable tourism conferences have been organized on St. Eustatius and hardly any ideas or resolutions have been followed up.”
Previous meetings of the Advisory Board only lasted for one hour each. However, the third meeting of the Advisory Board scheduled for Tuesday, April 10, at Gertrude Judson Bicentennial Public Library, will last two hours from 3:00pm to 5:00pm. Its agenda is expected to include social housing, electricity, Internet, airport and harbour services.
