Congratulations!
Congratulations, Bonaire!
Congratulations, Saba!
Congratulations, St. Eustatius!
Congratulations separately and collectively. For when you affixed your signatures to the joint declaration in The Hague yesterday, paving the way for each of you to attain a new constitutional status as a public body (“Openbaar Lichaam”) within the Kingdom, you initiated the writing of the epitaph of the collection of islands masquerading as the country the Netherlands Antilles! Congratulations.
The writing is now truly on the wall. And finally, and suddenly, it seems, the bells are really tolling – tolling for the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles.
It is appropriate that you celebrate yesterday’s achievement, but even as you do so, you must remain conscious that you have merely initiated a “giant leap.” You are still in mid-air. You have not yet landed. Be ever watchful and be careful about how and where you land. There are still analyses and quick scans to be done and complex decisions to be made as you attempt to add flesh to the skeleton you now have.
The citizens of your islands – indeed, the peoples of all the islands of the Netherlands Antilles – are looking to you to ensure that your future status is no worse – but much better – than what you endure at the moment.
Hopefully yesterday’s significant “breakthrough” that Dutch Minister of Administrative Reform and Kingdom Relations Atzo Nicolaï spoke about will give a new sense of purpose, direction and urgency to your political colleagues in Willemstad and Philipsburg, helping them to get their acts together as they race against time with the July 1, 2007, deadline in mind.
It’s not often that one hears Commissioner Will Johnson praising any senior Dutch official who has anything to do with helping to fashion the future of these islands. That he is currently very effusive in his praise of Nicolaï says a mouthful. It means that finally a good wind is blowing in the area of constitutional affairs. St. Maarten and Curaçao should ensure that it becomes a wind in their sails.
Once again, congratulations, Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius!
Let’s go Curaçao and St. Maarten!
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