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January 29, 200
The Daily Herald
- BES islands to stress this point during meetings -
THE HAGUE--Dutch politicians have to indicate what their commitment will be to the BES islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba and concrete agreements should be reached on the standard of living, the tasks for which the Kingdom will be responsible and what the islands will do for themselves.
These issues will be the main focus for the BES islands during the current week of meetings in The Hague, the Netherlands, the three islands agreed during Monday's meeting with representatives of the Association of Dutch Municipalities VNG.
The first meeting was held at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Kingdom Relations with financial expert of the VNG Gijs Oskam, who visited the islands last year. He discussed the main areas in which the association can help the islands and issues such as the division of tasks, financing from the BES funds and specific social benefits.
A political consultation on Thursday should conclude with the BES islands taking a major step towards attaining the status of "public entity" within the Netherlands.
Oskam advised the BES islands to get the political discussion started on the standard of living. However, the islands indicated that political decision-making should follow preparation on the technical level, so that topic could not be discussed with civil servants on the technical level.
Bonaire was represented by Constitutional Affairs Commissioner Anthony Nicolaas, Finance Commissioner Burney Elhage and leader of the governing UPB party Island Council member and Parliamentarian Ramonsito Booi, and advisor Johan Afman.
The St. Eustatius delegation comprised Constitutional Affairs Commissioner Julian Woodley, Finance Commissioner Roy Hooker, Island Council member for Democratic Party (DP) St. Eustatius Ralph Berkel and Island Council member for the Progressive Labour Party Clyde van Putten.
Saba's delegation comprised Constitutional Affairs Commissioner Chris Johnson and the former leader of the WIPM party, advisor Will Johnson.
The BES islands have been negotiating a new integrated status with the Netherlands. This would give them a status similar to Dutch municipalities. However, this special status needs thorough negotiation for the islands to guarantee a desired standard of living to their citizens.
Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius will become Dutch territories and three separate funds will be created for the islands to finance their expenses. However, the BES islands will not have the same agreement with the Dutch Government as the Dutch Municipalities have concerning the division of tasks and provision for exceptional situations.
"In matters such as health care, will the Dutch Government take the responsibility, as is the case in the Netherlands, or do the islands have to carry this responsibility themselves?" Hooker asked.
The BES islands will be the smallest municipalities in the Netherlands, each with its own airport, seaport and hospital, which the smaller municipalities in the Netherlands don't have. Neither will Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba have bigger municipalities in the region on which to depend for help.
Elhage added that the standard of living should not be different. He used the example of French territories in the Caribbean, which have the same standard of living as France.
He said that having the same standard of living should not be discussed, because it was a fundamental discussion on human rights that would reach the United Nations and beyond. He said the only difficulty would be the economic reality of the islands.
"Imposing a European standard of living at once will disrupt the balance of the economy on the islands," he said.
Booi said it was time the process started. "Agreements have to be reached where to start and how to build it up till the BES islands reach the same as Dutch municipalities in five or 10 years from now," he said.
But he also stressed that a political decision had to be taken. This matter will be tabled during Thursday's political consultation. However, the islands will try to discuss the matter as much as possible during the meetings this week.
Copyright ©2008 The Daily Herald St. Maarten
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