Limited in scope
Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba hope to reach basic agreement with the outgoing Balkenende Cabinet on establishing direct relations with the Netherlands. If next week’s talks in Bonaire with Kingdom Relations Minister Atzo Nicolaï are successful, they will be followed by a conference in The Hague on October 10 and 11 to make the deal.
Some in St. Maarten and Curaçao, the two island territories that want to become autonomous countries in the Dutch Kingdom when the Netherlands Antilles ceases to exist, are now accusing the three other islands of selling out, of allowing the Netherlands to successfully apply the “divide and rule tactic” and of cooperating with neo-colonialism. That is easy to say, however, if you’re on an island with the economic strength to take care of itself, which is simply not the case for the three “smaller islands,” at least not yet.
They have structural deficits, not as a result of mismanagement of public finances as was the case in particularly Curaçao and to a lesser extent St. Maarten, but mostly because of their small-scale economies and therefore limited earning power. At the same time, because they are islands, they must provide costly basic services and facilities, including an airport and a harbour, a burden the average small municipality in Holland does not necessarily share.
Also considering their experience with the Solidarity Fund since Aruba left the Antilles two decades ago, it is perfectly understandable that Saba, Statia and Bonaire want more financial security and are willing to accept that they fall directly under the Dutch Government. However, the question is: to what extent will they get what they want?
For one thing, Nicolaï has already said that the intention is not to introduce Holland’s attractive social welfare system on the islands, because the fear is that immigrants from poor countries in the Caribbean region would flock there to make use of it. His statement appears in contrast with the advice of the Council of State, which despite recommending a transition period said practically all the laws in the Netherlands should eventually be applied to these “Kingdom Islands.”
Not only that, but it is highly doubtful that the Dutch Government will let Curaçao and St. Maarten completely “off the hook” when it comes to the smaller islands and have The Hague take care of all their needs; for example, making the euro their currency, having the Dutch police take over and making the islands part of, for example, the Dutch pension fund and Social Insurance Bank.
Bonaire, Statia and Saba deserve support and understanding in their quest for more security, but should not make the mistake of thinking they’ll have nothing more to do with the bigger islands. The idea of “big brother” Holland coming in to solve all their problems is an erroneous one.
Whatever agreement the “smaller islands” sign with the Dutch Government, negotiations regarding the future status of St. Maarten and Curaçao will have an impact on the final result for all islands. Until the complete package of new relations within the Kingdom has been agreed on, any progress made will be limited in scope.
Give us your opinion on this story ![[new]](/images/new.gif)
Post a message on our message board! Click Here!
