Dear Editor,
In a Dutch newspaper the Netherlands was recently blamed for doing too little for St. Maarten and that the procedures of the World Bank are too complex. However, nowhere in this story in the Dutch newspaper did I read what the exact task of the government of the autonomous country St. Maarten is: an autonomy on the basis of the Kingdom Charter which states that the countries “represent their own interests independently and on the basis of equality.” As a Dutch parliamentarian, I am repeatedly being reminded by colleagues of the Caribbean islands that interference from the Netherlands is undesirable. In fact, it is regarded as colonial.
After a disaster such as Hurricane Irma, the Netherlands is certainly ready to provide mutual assistance and that is how it should be in the Kingdom. But when half a billion euros of Dutch taxpayers’ money is distributed on St. Maarten, those same taxpayers also want to know if it is being spent well. There are several options to spend the money: 1. We will transfer that half a billion euros to St. Maarten at once. (2) The Netherlands will determine how the money will be spent, or (3) An independent agency will manage and spend that money.
I was advised against the first option. Not so much by the Dutch government, but by the people of St. Maarten. “Do not send money to the St. Maarten government, because it will disappear in the wrong pockets,” they said. Given the concerns about financial management on St. Maarten, it did not seem like a good option to me either. The second option might be useful in checking how the money is spent, but then the Netherlands is interfering with the spending of money in an autonomous country. That seems inappropriate and undesirable and is certainly not an option from the side of St. Maarten. Only the third option remains open. But for that you want an experienced party who has handled reconstruction processes before, and you end up at the World Bank.
Now the question is why it all took so long and why the procedures are so difficult. You can, however, also wonder if that is the actual case here. For example, the plans for the hospital were ready and the money was there to spend. It came down to good and feasible plans put forward by the St. Maarten government. It is their autonomous responsibility to make those choices. What happens though, is that St. Maarten is unable (or wants to be that) to set up an organisation to streamline and contribute to the plans. The money is there, but the plans are not, or not completely.
The Audit Chamber last week reported that the electricity and water distribution company GEBE had submitted plans, but they had been rejected because the tender was not in accordance with the regulations. That is when I get suspicious. I have been a Kingdom Relations spokesman for eight years now and in those eight years I have been worried about the shadowy financial constructions of the government companies in the Dutch Caribbean countries Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten.
The directors are appointed on the basis of nepotism and political colour, money flows are obscure, accountability is absent, and the local government uses the funds for their own projects without democratic control. So, I am glad that the World Bank has stepped in. This way I can be surer that the money meant for reconstruction will actually reach the right place, and that it helps the country to improve its governance. A win-win situation, except for the population.
As long as the St. Maarten government does not get its financial management in order and does not take steps to ensure good governance, the population will suffer. The Ombudsman, the Audit Chamber and the Advisory Council International Issues AIV can point to the responsibility of the Netherlands time and time again, but that does not change the fact that St. Maarten is independent. If we believe that should not be the case, we should dissolve the Charter and start from scratch. I am all for that.
Also, an anecdote as to whether there is any intention of the St. Maarten government to work on a better St. Maarten. Last June, the Kingdom Relations Commission of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament visited St. Maarten to see how the recovery was coming along. We had a conversation with the St. Maarten government. Minister of Justice Cornelius de Weever was there as well. Experts of the situation on St. Maarten know that the local prison has been a big problem for a long time, and even though there have been many plans for improvement, nothing changed for the better. After Hurricane Irma, the prison was so badly damaged that Dutch soldiers and Dutch prison personnel had to be deployed to keep the prison safe. The response of the Minister of Justice, the man in charge of the prison, during our meeting was literally: “If the problem becomes big enough, it automatically becomes an issue of the Kingdom.” And he leaned back and smiled kindly at me.
I dare to say here that there are forces on St. Maarten, on a government level or close to that, that have every interest in getting the World Bank out of decision-making process and proceed with the first option that I mentioned earlier on. Deposit those 470 million euros in the account of the St. Maarten government which then decides what is good without any checks, without justification. I’m not sure whether the St. Maarten people will be better off that way.
André Bosman
Member of the Second Chamber for the ruling liberal democratic VVD party
