Dear Editor,
There is much conversation in Sint Maarten in which our small jurisdiction is compared to large jurisdictions. The difference between small and big is not just in size but also in the consequences of size. The small scale of a territory leads to governance having to be different.
Large jurisdictions are able to have multiple layers of government. Typically federal/national, regional and local/municipal. Here in Sint Maarten we have just one level of government.
Multiple levels of government allow for there to be greater degrees of specialization and expertise. Here in Sint Maarten our government has to administer a much greater range of public sector responsibilities.
The result is that the single elected chamber has to deal with everything from macro national and international affairs to the most minute matters along a mind-blowing range of issues. The risk of lack of competence and the chances of chaos and delays increase.
How can we and other small (tiny) jurisdictions mitigate this?
You could increase the levels of government or create institutions that would take care of certain areas but that would even further put pressure on treasury and limit the investments required for development and long term quality of life.
The alternative would be to hope that more persons in government would develop a wider range of skills and be able to juggle their activities across multiple areas more effectively. But that is difficult, and the difficulty should not be underestimated. Our brain drain makes this worse than it would otherwise be.
My submission is that there is value in recognizing the specific disadvantages of a small self-governing territory and finding every possible manner of mitigating the disadvantages.
Robbie Ferron
