Several reports last week on plans of the Government of St. Maarten to build a church for the local Methodist community to the tune of half a million guilders have raised eyebrows on the island, but also in Willemstad and even The Hague. It involves a situation whereby the group was allowed to convert an empty structure on an unused parcel of land at Belvedere into a church, but it later turned out the property in question was already destined for a sports field.
The Executive Council now says it is correcting a mistake, but the question is justified whether this is really the correct way to go about it. For one thing, government would be setting a dangerous precedent in terms of both financing a specific religious group and compensating others who start building on land that later turns out to be reserved for another purpose.
As far as the latter is concerned, the latest information suggests a building permit for the original location was never made available by the St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF) in the first place and that government did in fact issue a building stop and demolition order in 2008. Under these circumstances, one has to wonder whether government, and consequently the local taxpayer, owes the group involved anything at all.
That the former Island Government did not want to just demolish a place of worship – although illegally built – without offering an alternative is to a certain extent understandable, while even the idea of some compensation for work already done perhaps can be defended. The decision of the current Executive Council to build the church is quite a different story, however, especially as an existing structure was being used and adapted, rather than a whole new building constructed.
In addition, no building permit has been issued yet for the new location either, although the amount involved is reportedly on the – yet unapproved – 2010 budget. Considering the recent investigation of the government accountants bureau SOAB into irregularities regarding such permits, that in any case should be arranged before any work is done.
More in general, however, this direct involvement of government in the building of a church to the point where it organised a public bidding process is questionable at best. Assisting local churches that do good social work through subsidies is possible, but government must take great care to treat them all on an equal basis and avoid any hint whatsoever of favouritism.
After all, there is a good reason for the separation of church and state that characterises modern-day democracies. Government is there for all, regardless of faith, religion, creed, or otherwise.
