Dear Editor,
The reason why the Rutte administration in the Netherlands can get away with linking the Integrity Chamber and border control to the reconstruction funds is because right across the political spectrum of the Netherlands there is a frustration that investments in good administration in St. Maarten have not paid off.
St. Maarten has not made very much effort to correct this nor made much effort at drawing attention to administrative and governmental successes which clearly exist. No other party is going to do this for St. Maarten.
In the Netherlands, there remains a deep frustration that has built up over many years, in respect of how funds the Netherlands has made available to a wide range of countries and institutions have not produced the desired developmental result. This frustration already developed in the 1980’s and continues to date in spite of many efforts to better manage such aid funding. As a result there is strong support of being strict and precise about expenditures across practically all political parties.
The resistance that the Marlin administration gives to the Integrity Chamber and the border control is, therefore, going to increase the broad-based view in the Netherlands that monies to St. Maarten should be strictly controlled. Whilst the Marlin administration may have a case in respect of constitutional precision as far as the procedures go, fighting these issues is going to worsen the long term position of St. Maarten as it continues its inevitable relationship in the Kingdom.
From a strategic point of view, this fight should be best handled outside of the media. A high profile of this discussion is grossly contrary to our interests. If we care about the chances of long term reconstruction aid in an environment where category five hurricanes are going to be more frequent and the tourist economy more competitive, we are going to have to be more strategic about the choice of issues and methods of resolving them.
Robbie Ferron
