Gumbs waiting on formalising
of appointment as coordinator
~ Sarah: ‘It’s stuck somewhere in the administration’ ~
PHILIPSBURG--Former Member of Parliament Marcel Gumbs still hasn’t received an official notification that he has been appointed the local coordinator for the strengthening of relations with the French side. This despite the announcement Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams made in June stating that the Executive Council had decided to appoint Gumbs.
“It’s almost a month ago already and I don’t know where things are stuck. But, I’m still waiting,” Gumbs told The Daily Herald.
Meanwhile, there is a new government on the French side and the new president designate of the territorial council Louis-Constant Fleming has already expressed the desire for constructive cooperation between the two sides of the island.
Constitutional Affairs Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams reacted in Wednesday’s Executive Council press briefing stating that the decision had been taken by the Executive Council to appoint Gumbs. “It’s a little frustrating also to me that the formalising has not yet taken place and thus Gumbs does not have a resolution to that effect in his hand,” Wescot-Williams said.
The situation is also frustrating to the Commissioner because, according to her, it has been evident that that kind of cooperation and collaboration was very necessary and there was need for someone to pull together the process and structures for cooperation between the two sides.
Wescot-Williams said the formalising of the appointment was stuck somewhere in the administration and was just not coming out. Asked what she could do about it as a Commissioner, she replied: “What could you do, but call where you believe it’s stuck and then hear the promise that it’s forthcoming and realise that it’s not.”
Gumbs said he had information that France had requested a meeting with the Netherlands to discuss the relationship with St. Maarten. The meeting is scheduled to take place in August
It was the Executive Council that approached Gumbs in January 2006 to discuss a contract for him to become coordinator between the Dutch side and the French side. After several meetings and discussions, a final draft proposal was made in March 2007 and last month Wescot-Williams made the official announcement that Gumbs was appointed by the Executive Council.
He explained that it’s important that this process gets underway as soon as possible. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on cooperation between the two sides already exists.
“The MOU took a long time to negotiate. It was finalised in November 2006. It’s a step in the right direction, but the execution has to start,” Gumbs said.
He made a case for the constitutional change process of St. Maarten to go somewhat parallel with the process of a structured cooperation with the French side. “The constitutional change process for St. Maarten should be priority, but the relations with the French side are also important.”
Gumbs explained that problems on either side of the island will affect the lives of everyone no matter if you’re living on the French side or the Dutch side. “We need to give serious attention to solving our problems. Not only the existing ones, but also the ones we can see coming in the future. In life, we must plan not only for things to go well; but also when things go wrong we must have solutions.”
The traffic problem is something both sides of the island experience, Gumbs said. Also cases of disaster whether it is a hurricane, a big fire or an airplane crashing, the former Member of Parliament said that the two sides need to help each other in those cases.
“We are an island and cannot import help like countries in Europe. We have to structure our help so when something happens we can react quickly.”
Another example Gumbs gave was the problem with housing. “It’s interesting to see how they deal with this issue on the French side. We must not think that we know it all. We can learn a lot from our neighbours and it’s good to make use of their knowledge.”
Gumbs said there are people who have been misusing the open border between the French side and the Dutch side and this problem needed to be addressed with some urgency.
“People have been misusing the open borders for example for tax evasion. In the new status, both islands need more financial means to pay for the extra responsibilities that more autonomy brings. We have to close these holes in the system for both sides to collect what they really should get.”
Asked about the role the Netherlands and France have in this cooperation, Gumbs explained that in the relationship between the two sides, certain things can be regulated on a local government level. “But, there are other things that cannot be done because they are issues to be dealt with on Kingdom level with France such as border crossing crime and other international matters.”
However, he believes that in the future representatives of the local governments should be present during meetings between the Netherlands and France when discussing issues pertaining to St. Maarten/St. Martin.
Gumbs: “We are physically a long way from Europe, so for this cooperation to go well, I believe when the meetings take place between Paris and The Hague representatives of the local governments in St. Maarten/St. Martin need to be present.
“The Europeans don’t live here and don’t feel and live what takes place here. They take decisions that don’t bring solutions to the problems because they are not here to know what happens. Local governments can have influence on these negotiations and so contribute to a solution to the problems.”
