Dear Editor,
The cooperative platform has taken note of the status report recently submitted to the parliament by State Secretary R. Knops regarding developments on the Island since the February 7, 2018, enforcement of the law “Tijdelijke Wet Taakverwaarlosing St. Eustatius.” While the state secretary paints a very positive image on all fronts the reality on St. Eustatius differs significantly in many areas. This point is further confirmed by the lack of specificity offered by the state secretary in his progress report.
With regard to the intervention which Mr. Knops stated is designed to last as short as possible or as long as necessary in order to realize “results” and the restoration of law and order with regard to the governing process the platform observes the following.
While these goals are admirable there is a lack of a structural plan of action in the approach toward accomplishing these goals. What are the “results” referenced to by the state secretary that would constitute sufficient achievements in order to end the intervention? Has the state secretary defined the criteria by which “results” will be measured considering that it is now the task of the Kingdom Commissioner to accomplish these results? Has the Kingdom Commissioner been asked to submit his plan for achieving these results?
It is not clear what is meant by this, only when we are provided with information in concrete terms can the statement “as long as necessary” be quantified. The platform believes that the parliament and people of Statia need to be provided with an indication of what is meant by the secretary’s statement “As short as possible and as long as necessary.”
Mr. Knops stated that since the intervention even the critics of the intervention have become more amicable with the ideas and current situation, which surely constitutes a disconnect with the reality on the Island. The concern of the platform is that in reality the opposite may be true. The lack of information with regard to government actions, structured approach to the issues being addressed and lack of checks and balances leaves not only critics but also the supporters of the intervention with many questions that remain unanswered fuelling doubt and scepticism with regards to the progress of the intervention.
With regard to the provision of information to the public Mr. Knops reported that significant efforts to provide information have yielded positive result. In reality while there have been some attempts to provide information to the public the provision of information with regard to the actions and activities of government has in fact decreased since the implementation of the new law.
Prior to the implementation of this law the public was privy to publicly held meetings of the Island Council where information was provided regarding the decisions of government, decision lists of the Executive Council were published weekly and made available at the public library. There were, most of the time, weekly-held press conferences of the Executive Council which also provided the public with detailed information with regard to the activities of Government in addition to information provided through the government radio program and via the department of GIS Government information services.
Since the intervention there has been one town hall meeting, no public meetings of the government, no radio programs and no press conferences. The decision lists are not made available to the public and only selective ordinances are published on the website of the Island Government.
When the public entities were established national Government implemented laws and bylaws that govern the lives and liberty of the people of St. Eustatius but also ensured the adherence to the pillars of good governance – namely, transparency, accountability and checks and balances. The failure to stipulate in this intervention law “Tijdelijke Wet Taakverwaarlosing St. Eustatius.” as to how these pillars of checks and balances must be adhered to is one of the main concerns of this platform.
The platform recognizes that there have been positive developments since the intervention and commends the Kingdom Commissioners for these efforts. The immediate actions with regard to combating erosion, removal of car wrecks, hurricanes restoration project and the focus on development and training of civil servants are all positive developments which are in line with the positive developments that meet the expectation of the public as a result of the intervention. Providing the public with more timely information regarding future plans and involving the community via increased interaction will help to continue to build good will and support for the actions that must be carried out during this transitory phase.
In the report of Mr. Knops, while it focused extensively on the deficiencies on the island as referenced the report of the committee of wise men which played a critical role in the final decision on intervention, it should be noted that to date there has been no attention placed on the comments and advice of the committee of wise men regarding the role of the national government. This report concluded that the situation in St. Eustatius was ultimately caused by actions or inactions of both Island and national governments. In order to ensure that the current situation should result in a sustainable solution the report suggests changes that should be made on both island level and national level.
The platform wonders whether Mr. Knops acknowledges these shortcomings on the part of the national government and whether there are also steps being made to correct them as is being done on Island Government level.
Finally, while this issue was not addressed in the letter of the state secretary, both critics and supporters of the intervention still have not been supplied with an argument/explanation for the decision for postponement of scheduled Island Council elections in 2019. In the historical precedents within the Netherlands as it relates to interventions of the national government in municipal administrations there has never been an instance where these interventions were attached to, or included, or affected the organization of free municipal elections. Therefore, the open question remains why this approach was taken with regard to the intervention on St. Eustatius.
Transparency with regard to this subject together with a published plan for the restoration of law order and good governance will go a long way toward the reassurance and confidence of the population of St. Eustatius that the intervention is indeed accomplishing the purpose for which the parliament gave its unanimous support, namely not the regime change as implied by some factions on the island but the restoration of law and order and the restoration of good governance, where the people of St. Eustatius are informed in an effective manner and involved with the governing decisions that will affect their lives and future.
The status report of the state secretary towards the parliament underscores the deficits in social economic and infrastructural development that consecutive governments have been confronted with over the years. These deficits and the governmental challenges are addressed and well documented in various studies throughout the years. (Spies report, Ideaversa report, etc.) These reports also proposed solutions to the issues that have been identified in the areas of social, economic and infrastructural development. In order to realize lasting changes it is important to use the information presented in these reports together with regular dialog with social partners and community of St. Eustatius to formulate sustainable solutions to address these issues facing the island in the transitory phase and beyond.
Gerald Berkel,
Facilitator, Cooperative Platform St. Eustatius
