December 15 was the wish of
Antilles, says State Secretary
PHILIPSBURG--The December 15 target date for constitutional change was a wish of the Netherlands Antilles, but according to Dutch State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten, it’s not realistic.
She made her statement on Monday during the Dutch television programme Nova. She said December 15 would not be feasible and that realistic planning should be made for the islands to attain their new statuses.
Constitutional Affairs Minister Roland Duncan confirmed on Monday reports that Dutch civil servants had written a note advising pushing back the target date to December 2010.
The constitutional affairs directing group has been inventorying the work that needs to be done and will present its final advice on the feasibility of the December 15 target date by the end of March.
Nova produced a three-part series on “Corruption on the Antilles” in which the effectiveness of Dutch technical assistance to the islands was questioned.
