Dear Editor,
Further to the discussion on the “inevitable” deficit that occurs in the government of Sint Maarten (ref Minister Heyliger-Marten), it is valuable to take a deeper look at the background of this deficit. One of the major stand-outs of the financial picture Sint Maarten government is how decisions in the past have resulted in the government taking responsibility of a wide range of affairs that might have otherwise been operated by private or independent owners who would bear the risk of failure.
Globally there has been a trend for airports to be privately owned, harbours to be privately owned, many utilities to be privately owned and most telcoms to be privately owned. In Sint Maarten the picture is that this very small economy that is expecting rapid growth is bearing the responsibility for a wide range of such tasks and the liabilities associated with them.
The decision-making background to this probably stems from a colonial past. The general view has probably been that if “we” can own it , then “we” are likely to optimize the benefits in this sector. This decision-making has probably underestimated the need to capitalize and operate in a lean manner in the market conditions of each of these sectors.
It is likely that participation in the telecoms business is the most extreme case. Unless the telecoms market has suddenly stopped experiencing the rapid disruption it has had in recent years, it is likely to be buffeted by new circumstances in the next few years.
The imperfect logic of “we” getting more benefits when we own it applies particularly to the decision that “we” needed our own currency. It was thought that if it was a currency owned by “we” it would bring economic value to Sint Maarten. In spite of clear warnings that the benefits an owned currency brought no advantages and greater costs to Sint Maarten it was decided to commit to that expensive endeavour.
One hopes that in the future the dominating political forces in Sint Maarten will have a better understanding of what benefits “we”.
Robbie Ferron
