Emotional nonsense spoken
about treaty, says Duncan
PHILIPSBURG--There is a lot of misinformation being given about the recently ratified Franco-Dutch treaty. Constitutional and Home Affairs Minister for National Alliance Roland Duncan reacted in an interview with The Daily Herald to what he called “emotional nonsense comments” made by People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA) leader and Island Council Member Gracita Arrindell and Constitutional Affairs Commissioner for the Democratic Party (DP) Sarah Wescot-Williams.
He said Arrindell’s remarks about the treaty, stating that it was disrespectful to the people of St. Maarten and against “our Caribbean brothers and sisters,” were “emotional nonsense.”
Reacting to Wescot-Williams’ comments about NA predecessor St. Maarten Patriotic Alliance (SPA) signing the treaty and NA supporting the current Central Government that has welcomed the signing of the treaty, Duncan said NA hadn’t existed in 1994 when the treaty was signed.
He added that former SPA minister Leo Chance had signed a treaty that already had been negotiated when DP was in power, involving DP member Sarah Wescot-Williams and former member Rene Richardson. Also involved were former Lt. Governor Russell Voges, who afterwards became Minister of Finance for DP, and former Attorney General Robert Pieters.
Duncan said the Franco-Dutch Treaty had nothing to do with Dutch citizens, St. Maarten residents or people with visas coming to St. Maarten. “It has to do with people coming in without proper visas. The treaty intends to curb illegal residents,” said Duncan.
The Ys cabinet, with participation of DP, clearly stated in 2005 that it wouldn’t challenge the treaty any further. “Subsequently, if the ‘Staten Generaal’ in the Netherlands ratifies the treaty, this has nothing to do with disrespecting the people of St. Maarten, but with the Ys Government deciding not to challenge the treaty. What Arrindell has been alleging is emotional nonsense,” said Duncan.
Asked why emotional statements were being made on the issue, Duncan said it had to do with politics and racism. “Local politicians know that a lot of Caribbean people who have Dutch passports have family that are residing illegally here. So they don’t want to ruffle illegal Dominicans, for instance, because then they will not vote for them.”
Regarding the racism aspect he said: “People like Joe Lake and a couple guys from French side don’t like white Europeans and feel that if a black Caribbean guy can’t come in, a white European shouldn’t be able to come in either.”
But Duncan stressed that it had nothing to do with racism, but with having a European passport and being a European citizen. “So if another guy, whoever he is – Caribbean, Chinese or whatever – if he doesn’t have a European passport, then, sorry, you’re not one of us,” Duncan said.
He said the Franco-Dutch treaty was something normal when talking about international relationships. “Is it fair towards French St. Martin for someone on Dutch St. Maarten to go over to French St. Martin without the French St. Martin authorities having a chance of checking him first?” Duncan asked. “That’s not good neighbourly relations. The Franco-Dutch treaty serves these neighbourly relations.”
The treaty, Duncan explained, has nothing to do with other Caribbean countries with which St. Maarten has relations.
“If we need to have relations with other Caribbean islands we should become a good country and start sending diplomats around to start making treaties. If we want people from St. Kitts, for instance, to come in without a visa we have to sit down and make a treaty. We cannot say, ‘Oh, God, my Kittitian brothers cannot come in because of the treaty.’ In international relations that’s nonsense and we have to grow up to that fact if we want to become a country,” Duncan said.
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