Dear Editor,
Small countries with narrow economic options require their governance to focus more closely on their economic future path than larger more diversified ones because the risk is so much greater. If your economy includes extractive industries, manufacturing, agriculture and financial services, the decline in one of these is less disastrous than when the activity types are fewer. In St. Maarten we have to depend on stayover tourism, cruise tourism and some smaller activities, most closely tied to each other.
Ideally, we and our decision-makers should have a clear vision of what activities in the limited range of options will be optimal for the entire country and population and be consumed with the challenge of making the most of these limited options, many of which are in highly competitive fields. We should have clear understanding of whether industries like gambling, cruise ship visits, yachting, foreign residence construction have value to the country in respect of employment, positive income for the public sector and a longer-term future where that question is appropriate.
We boast extensive and expensive advice-providing services and have in the past hired outside advisers to assist as well. Incredibly, after all that has been written and monies spent there is little evidence of attention being paid to these areas in the political conversation that we hear reported in the press. The focus instead is on how declining tax revenues are spent and the obligations of the “colonial” power that is currently supporting the deficits being created.
That unanimity of vision and purpose that would build business confidence is undermined by divisions relating to the representation of the private and public sectors. The contributions of the private sector organizations to economic thinking are consistently interpreted as being for self-serving individual benefit of the private sector individuals and discounted for that reason. This is exacerbated by the fact that many private sector operators are of a non-St. Maarten heritage. This is further exacerbated by divisions within the private sector based on heritage.
In the near future St. Maarten is going to be confronted with having to make decisions on how the public finances are going to be put in order. There is no indication that there are plans in place that would return the country to a solid public finance footing. Unprecedented tough decisions lie ahead. Tax models are going to be a key determinant as to whether a positive trend can be created from the current structures that were created by short-term convenience and a reluctance to invest in tax collection.
This painful process would fare better if representations of the private sector and the public sector were to treat each other with greater respect and understanding and not with the suspicion that every private sector input is based exclusively on narrow interests. The success and continued viability of many private sector operators in St. Maarten is closely tied to good governance and good governance that is tied to a successful negotiation of the public sector revenue challenges.
Robbie Ferron
