Nicolaï: Agreement
can’t be fiddled with
PHILIPSBURG--The agreement between the Netherlands and the three smaller islands of the Netherlands Antilles – Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius – stands and can’t be messed with, said Dutch Minister of Administrative Reform and Kingdom Relations Atzo Nicolaï on Thursday.
In an interview with The Daily Herald, the Minister said he wouldn’t allow any party to “fiddle with” the agreement that had been reached in The Hague on Wednesday. He said this in relation to the discussions with Curaçao and St. Maarten that must still take place.
Through the agreement the three smaller islands have secured their direct ties with the Netherlands. What the two larger islands want, however, is more autonomy by becoming countries in the Kingdom when the Antilles is dismantled.
Nicolaï said the agreement with the smaller islands didn’t stand in the way of Curaçao and St. Maarten. He hoped that the agreement would send a signal to the two islands that he and the present cabinet were open for business while they were still in power. He said the process, and how quickly an agreement would be reached, depended entirely on the two islands.
Nicolaï will visit Curaçao and St. Maarten later this month to talk to the two governments. He said he was “curious” about the talks. He was not looking forward to the time with anticipation, but said he expected the discussions to be “intensive.”
Nicolaï said discussions with the smaller islands also had been “tough” at times. But, he added, “That comes with the territory.” He said parties had been able to come to the historic agreement on Wednesday because everybody had been able to “jump over their shadows.”
Persons, he said, were able to put aside issues of “prestige, symbolism and autonomy.” Parties focused on what was best for the people and acknowledged that it was better to work with the Netherlands. He said the agreement was an “enrichment” for both the Netherlands and the three islands.
The islands complained during the talks, which took place Tuesday and Wednesday in The Hague and before that in Bonaire, that the Netherlands initially didn’t want to make too many commitments and that it focused too much on the islands’ responsibilities.
Asked why the Dutch delegation stuck to this strategy, being so strict about finances and supervision, Nicolaï said it had done so in the interest of the people of the islands. He said that often the picture was painted that the Netherlands liked being difficult and stern.
“The islands have big problems, especially financially. They are in a vicious circle and we need to get out of that,” he said. This means a financial investigation and supervision, at least temporarily, to realise a healthy starting position for the islands. He acknowledged that negotiations on this issue had been tough at times.
Supporting the process of coming to healthier finances is also a form of help, said Nicolaï. “It is not only to meddle,” he said. He noted that the main complaint actually had been the lack of support from the Central Government.
Although not too anxious to secure too many commitments in the area of social benefits, pensions and public health, the Netherlands agreed in the end to look for ways to give the smaller islands some form of structural assistance.
The islands having the same level of luxurious social benefits as the Netherlands was out of the question, said Nicolaï. “We have to ask ourselves what is an acceptable level,” he said.
As for public health and medical care, he said that these norms on the islands also differed from the Netherlands. Having the same level of health and medical care as the Netherlands is also not possible because of the size of the islands. “We have to still look at this,” he said, adding that parties hadn’t come to concrete agreements on this issue. But, he said, “It is part of the totality.”
Nicolaï said he could understand that the islands wanted to receive their new status as public bodies, a sort of municipality with special conditions, sooner rather than later. “But that can’t be done just like that. I can’t just fill up that void and promise them it will happen today – not as long as the Netherlands Antilles exists,” he said.
He seems determined to go ahead with the smaller islands, even if no agreement is reached with Curaçao and St. Maarten. The fact is that the smaller islands and the Netherlands have a deal and Nicolaï desires that parties start giving content to Wednesday’s signed document early next year. (Suzanne Koelega)
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