It looks like Christmas is coming early this year for certain folks in St. Eustatius. About US $1.5 million has been made available for backpay to (former) public sector employees (see related story).
This is by no means a gift, mind you, as the persons involved were not given their correct salaries between 2013 and 2018. The previous government had already calculated the amounts, which were included in the draft budgets of 2016 and 2017 but never paid out.
Civil servants will receive what is owed to them in one instalment at the end of September.
The situation is more complicated for those who have held other jobs and functions, but they too should get what is due to them in the end.
It’s really a bit unfortunate that these people were underpaid, but at least the mistake is now being remedied. One could also consider this “windfall” as a sort of – forced – savings and recipients would do well to spend it wisely.
In general, having such a considerable sum of money injected into the local economy can make a big positive difference on a relatively small island. The latter indirectly benefits the entire population.
The intention here is not to argue that everything happening in Statia of late has necessarily been great, but when there is good news it must also be reported. In fact, there are quite a few hopeful developments, including a now combined airport terminal and air traffic control tower project.
Sometimes it’s worthwhile to view the glass as half full rather than half empty.
