Dear Editor,
“But I told the minister, with my finger directed at his nose. I said to him, ‘If you come, when you come, be prepared for the consequences. Because if you bring in the military, we will kill them and we will burn them in the streets of Statia.’” This is a statement made by Clyde van Putten, the most important politician in St. Eustatius, who won the elections on the island last week. This statement is from 2017, after the island was hit by Hurricane Irma. The Hague offered emergency aid and military support to repair the worst damage. Aid that was used by Van Putten to turn the island people against “the Dutch.” He even threatened to kill these emergency workers and then burn them and drag their bodies through the streets. An expression of his aversion for people from the Netherlands.
Van Putten was the winner of the elections and his party, the PLP, took three out of five seats in the Island Council. Van Putten was also in power when the administration was put on non-active in 2018. The reason was the “serious neglect of duties” by the Statia administration, which had terribly neglected the island. This also involved fraud and corruption, discrimination and intimidation. The administration refused to recognise Dutch supervision and Dutch laws any longer. At the time, I thought it was a very difficult decision to temporarily abolish democracy on this island. Yet I agreed, as did all other political parties in Dutch Parliament.
We have invested a total of about 65 million euros in Statia, which is about 20,000 euros per inhabitant. In infrastructure, facilities and better governance. Things have gone wrong; it is not easy to rebuild a Caribbean island all the way from The Hague. Certainly not in times of corona. Nevertheless, the state of the island is much better now than it was in 2018. Last week the people elected a new Island Council, as a first step to restoring the local government. The Statia people elected the same party and the same people who seriously neglected the island in the past. They are also the same politicians who preached an aversion to the Dutch and called for the island to break with the Netherlands. Van Putten was on the list of his party, but was chosen with preferential votes.
The dislike of the Netherlands in St. Eustatius seems to be deep, I once noticed during a visit in 2012 with some fellow Members of Parliament. When we arrived at our hotel in the evening, almost everything was locked and all employees had left. The beds had not been changed and the bathroom had not been cleaned. This is quite an insult in the Caribbean cultures where hospitality is so important.
A big difference with Saba, the neighbour island which is also part of the Netherlands. The people of Saba are not only proud of their island, but also of the relationship with the Netherlands. And about the investments that are made. Many mistakes are made by the ministries and I always invite the politicians on Saba to share these problems with us. After which they receive the support of almost all parties in our Parliament.
We should not complain about the choice of the Statians for it is their right to determine their own future. We will have to take these votes of protest seriously. The Statians cannot distance themselves from the Netherlands by means of elections as this is only possible with a referendum. I propose to organise a referendum, in which the Statia people can make a choice. If they want to be part of our country or not. If they want support from the Netherlands or not. If they want a Dutch passport or not.
Continuing with politicians who do not want to cooperate makes no sense. Unfortunately, the past has proven this.
Ronald van Raak
Member of Parliament for the Socialist Party (SP)
