PHILIPSBURG--Financing for the taking over of Central Government tasks in St. Maarten and the staffing of the new departments in preparation for Country St. Maarten continue to be major concerns for St. Maarten as it prepares for the Kingdom Political Steering Group (PSG) meeting in Curacao scheduled for Thursday, February 11.
St. Maarten is expected to table these concerns during the talks that will bring together representatives of the Central, Curaçao, St. Maarten and Dutch governments.
The St. Maarten delegation will travel to Curaçao on February 9 and hold bilateral talks with Dutch State Secretary for Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten on February 10, a day ahead of the PSG talks.
Leader of Government and Constitutional Affairs Commissioner William Marlin said on Monday that he was hoping to get clarity on Dutch assistance for St. Maarten for this process during the bilateral talks with Bijleveld-Schouten.
In remarks at a meeting between heads of departments in St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius that fall under the Justice Ministry and the special unit tasked with the dismantling of the Justice Ministry, Marlin reiterated St. Maarten’s concerns about the lack of financing for the taking over of Central Government tasks here and for the staffing for these yet-to-be-developed entities.
“I cannot emphasise enough that one of the challenges that St. Maarten faces in this process is different from Bonaire, Saba, Statia and Curaçao,” he said.
He said that while this discussion always seemed to “step on toes,” it was simply “a reality check.”
He stressed that only one part of the Country Netherlands Antilles had been developed over the years – Curaçao – and this posed challenges for St. Maarten which now has to accept tasks and responsibilities that never had existed here before and for which financing and human capital was not readily available.
“Willemstad is where the government was seated and that’s where all the expertise was developed. … It is not a criticism toward Curaçao, it is just the reality. The challenge for St. Maarten is building the institutions to the level where we can independently function as a country,” Marlin said.
Several strides were made during the PSG in St. Maarten in December. These include agreement that the new Police Forces of Curaçao, St. Maarten and the BES Islands will each have a special crime fighting unit to tackle organised and cross-border crimes and the units will work together.
That agreement was considered the laying of a “solid foundation” for the new entities that will be created in the Dutch Caribbean. Parties are expected to hammer out the details of how the cooperation will work during next week’s consultation. The vetting of the islands is also expected to be discussed.
