PHILIPSBURG--As the curtains rise on 2023, government will zoom in on building a nation of strong, self-sufficient people, by improving the quality of life, improving opportunities, nurturing pride, promoting culture and community involvement.
This was the vision that Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs outlined in her New Year’s message issued on Monday.
“It is a lofty vision, one which we all deserve to dream about. More so, it is a vision we must all work together to achieve, and I challenge each of us to do so in 2023 and beyond. So, heed the call in your communities, in society at large to contribute, to be heard, to collaborate, to work together with your government to build a better St. Maarten for this and all future generations,” said Jacobs.
She said the year 2022 had flown by with many lessons and challenges that had provided opportunities for growth and development.
“During 2022, we saw tremendous progress as we got our economy back up and running after the devastation of the previous years’ dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic which shook our foundations, affected our health both physically and mentally as well as financially and economically, with the subsequent world-wide economic downturn as the world stood still, something that still impacts us today,” she said.
“Then just as we started to see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel, and adjustment to a new normal in 2022, the war on Ukraine started to extend its toll on the people of our island as well, with skyrocketing oil prices worldwide and supply chain disruptions negatively impacting every aspect of our lives such as the cost of living for basic needs like food, gas and electricity, while driving the cost of construction up even more.
“This has indeed impacted the vulnerable the most, even as ongoing cost-cutting measures continued to impact those struggling to help themselves and their families as well.”
Amid all this, Jacobs said families had suffered the loss of loved ones, both tragically as well as due to illness. She said in 2022, government continued to focus on the importance of family, protecting and caring for mental health, staying healthy in general, protecting the most vulnerable, especially women and children, as well as starting to focus on men as well.
“We saw an upsurge in awareness and community activities, organisations geared to address day-to-day struggles and the business community collaborating with government and government entities which resulted in the actions of the ordinary man and woman effectuating positive change in the lives of others,” she said.
“Despite the serious challenges we continue to face, including lack of capacity and financing, we have also seen tremendous growth and development as a government and people of St. Maarten, with great advancements over the past 12 months thanks to the commitment and hard work of our civils servants, collaboration with key stakeholders.
“We continue to liaise within the kingdom and with national and international agencies to secure financing to be able to realise our vision for St. Maarten and her people.”
As Minister of General Affairs, Jacobs said she had been proud to launch the National Development Vision, which is now the framework upon which the implementation of the country package of reforms, and governing programme will be prioritized. “We are diligently working on legislation and policies, while supporting all other ministries. We have also focused on building relationships with key partners and sought to collaborate as much as possible within the region.”
She said the support from the Cabinet of the Plenipotentiary Minister continues with representation of the St. Maarten government at kingdom level, enhancing opportunities for growth and development for St. Maarten via the European Union through OCTA, and by continued networking through business-to-business matchmaking initiative and looking for other foreign direct investment opportunities for St. Maarten in 2023.
“As a government, we will continue to seek solutions to enhance training of management, speed up the hiring of needed personnel to build needed capacity and enhance our support services as well as service to the general public. The digitalisation project under the trust fund continues to move ahead on schedule, which will bring much-needed efficiency to the services we render to the public – we continue to grow in this area.
“We also see great progress in implementation of the government’s reconstruction projects being executed under the NRPB, the National Recovery Program Bureau. Many projects were carried out on behalf of and in collaboration with government during 2022 which will continue with even greater results expected in 2023.”
She said government had received high praise from the World Bank in its the Mid-Term Review Report of the St. Maarten Reconstruction, Recovery, and Resilience Program for its favourable results, which include a high disbursement of funds and early results in social protection, infrastructure repair and reconstruction, as well as employment generation, despite early challenges.
“Even with current setbacks due to the increases in construction-related prices, and supply chain delays, we see that the large construction projects of our airport and hospital are getting back on track. The focus for the coming period will be on continued work on the Emergency Debris Management Project, seeking solutions for housing, and infrastructure, and working to ensure the roadmap to sustainable energy transition commences in 2023.”
Growth and sustainable social and economic development for all, she noted, continue to be the goal for the government of St. Maarten. “We will continue to do our utmost to provide the needed opportunities for entrepreneurship, for efficiency of doing business, creating a positive climate for foreign investments, keeping our island safe and ensuring our most vulnerable are protected and well cared for. We continue to promote a positive, never-give-up attitude and work ethic as we close 2022 and welcome 2023.”
“As government of St. Maarten, we have been at the table with our kingdom partners seeking for fair and equitable treatment of St. Maarten and other countries within the Kingdom. We will continue to do so in 2023, even as we define more and more for ourselves who we are, where we want to be and what we are prepared to do in the short, medium and long term as we prepare for the future we must design.
“The recent apologies by the Dutch Government have been received, and though the dialogue for St. Maarten is in its infancy, we are striving to ensure that our voices are heard. We will ensure that we take the lead in determining St. Maarten’s position in dialogue with the wider community and lawmakers to ensure equitable treatment of St. Maarten.
“As a people who are descendants of the enslaved and the inheritors of the vestiges and systems of the period of enslavement and subsequent colonialism which still permeate our existence, our functioning and the very real lack of development we are striving to improve on today.”
