One cannot conclude that St. Maarten has reached the state of being a full-fledged country five years after October 10, 2010. A lot of work has been done in the past five years which should be seen as making “children’s steps” on the way to becoming mature. “It will take a while. We have to continue to work hard on it,” said St. Maarten Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs in an interview with The Daily Herald while visiting The Hague two weeks ago, before the constitutional crisis evolved.
“You can’t say after five years that our country status has failed. Errors were to be expected. Stakeholders are not fully functioning as yet. It takes time to switch to a new system. This is the first time that we are executing such an immense project. We are a bit inexperienced, but we will get there.”
Asked about the tension in the relation with the Kingdom Government, Gumbs said that the relations were indeed “very strenuous.” “It is a combination and the fault sits at both sides. St. Maarten needs to pull up its socks, change priorities and live up to its responsibilities as a country.”
St. Maarten has a lot of homework to do in the coming years, said Gumbs. “Don’t forget that we are building a country from scratch.” He said that the younger people should also play a role in the process of country building.
According to Gumbs, one of the main issues the St. Maarten Government will need to concentrate on in the coming years is the building of capacity on higher administrative level. He said the lower and middle functions in government had more or less been filled, but that, for example, legal brains, financial experts and justice professionals were still needed.
For now, government finances were a main focus as St. Maarten was having trouble to balance its budget and to cover its expenditures. Tax revenues and compliance must be increased. “Without money nothing gets done.”
He said he hoped the complex process of the division of assets of the former Country the Netherlands Antilles would be concluded soon as this would bring much needed funds to government’s coffers.
Also, the issue of the Government Building on Pond Island needs to be handled. Government is in a very tight financial position and cannot make the necessary capital investments because the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT hasn’t given green light to the 2015 budget. St. Maarten received an instruction of the Kingdom Council of Ministers on September 4 to balance the 2015 budget.
Gumbs said that despite all the challenges, he was satisfied with the new constitutional structure. He said it was important for St. Maarten to not only keep working with the Kingdom, as it had an added value, but that the island needed to also promote itself regionally and internationally. Achieving closer ties with the Caribbean region brings many benefits.
In Gumbs’ opinion, the process to achieve new constitutional relations went too fast. “It could have been done in a more controlled manner. There was a rush. More attention should have been paid on what was put on paper and how it would work in practice for St. Maarten.”
Looking ahead five years from now, Gumbs said he hoped St. Maarten would be taking better care of itself internally, and to also be more regionally involved, to truly be the leader in the North Eastern Caribbean. “Our position is unique. We have the French and Dutch sides and that in itself brings a lot of potential. Continuously pointing fingers isn’t conducive. Let’s work together and fix it.” He concluded the interview before leaving for the United Nations in New York two weekends ago.
