PHILIPSBURG--Members of Parliament (MPs) from St. Maarten will join members of the Island Councils of Saba and St. Eustatius this week for the first official SSS Cooperative Consultation, scheduled to take place on Saba April 15-17.
The meeting marks a historic milestone in efforts to strengthen regional ties between the three islands. It follows a 2022 decision by the Parliament of St. Maarten to rekindle the SSS Cooperative and create a platform for more structured collaboration, regardless of each island’s current constitutional status. The goal is to address common challenges, explore joint solutions, and build lasting cooperation among the Windward Islands.
“This initiative approved by Parliament aims to bring together the three Caribbean islands with shared challenges and interests to work more closely on solutions that matter to their people,” the Parliament of St. Maarten said in a press release.
Over the course of the two-day consultation, legislators from the three islands will hold discussions on pressing regional topics, including inter-island air travel, double taxation and Customs coordination, food security, and climate change. The agenda also features early discussions on the creation of a Windward Islands Economic Union.
Participants will also attend a presentation on the history of Windward Islands cooperation. In addition, they will tour several local projects on Saba, including a hydroponics garden, the Saba Sea Research Lab, and the Saba Electric Company.
An expected outcome of the consultation is expected to be the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will formally establish the SSS Cooperative Consultation as an ongoing platform and ensure that the three legislative bodies continue to collaborate on issues of mutual interest.
The St. Maarten delegation includes MP Sarah A. Wescot-Williams, President of Parliament and delegation leader; MP Veronica Jansen-Webster; MP Egbert Doran; MP Lyndon Lewis; MP Francisco Lacroes; MP Viren Kotai; MP Raeyhon Peterson; and Secretary General of Parliament Garrick Richardson.
