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By Will Johnson
First of all I would like to welcome all dignitaries from the Central as well as the island Government who are here this evening. Also the people of Saba who are here with us to join in this commemoration.
As a former Member of Parliament I have been asked to say a few words on this occasion.
As the history of Parliament has a different meaning for each island, I would like to give a review as to what Parliament has meant for Saba and our participation in this auspicious body. One cannot evaluate the functioning of Parliament without relating it to results of the Government which Parliament supports. The two go hand in hand. In general I can state that the Dutch West Indian Islands have had free and fair elections throughout their history. On that positive note we can be proud of that accomplishment over the years.
Starting with the elections of December1937 when only a handful of people were allowed to participate, Mr. William Rufus Plantz was elected. He was elected unopposed in 1941 and again in 1945. His mother was from Statia and his father was a German from St.Thomas.
After him all other candidates who were leaders of political parties for Parliamentary elections in the Windward Islands were either from St.Maarten, Aruba, Curacao or from Statia.
In 1969 as leader of the URA section Windward Islands, I was the first native born Saban to run as a leader for Senator against the then ruling Democrat Party on all three islands. Among the URA candidates on Curacao were, besides the leader Papie Jesurun, also people like Bebe Royer, Errol Cova and so on, so that I was in good company. I proved then that with the rising population on St.Maarten that in future no one from Saba or Statia would ever stand a chance of being elected as Senator for the Windward Islands.
In 1973 the WIPM party was headed by Jocelyn Arndell at the time and I was the number 2 candidate. Despite a good showing we lost the elections.
It was at that time that we concluded that it made no sense to participate in the elections for Senator and so we successfully boycotted the elections for Parliament in 1977, 1979 and 1982.The people of Saba and Statia followed our call to boycott the elections. This had never been done before and gave the democratic deficit of Saba and St.Eustatius much publicity in the Kingdom.
With the impending departure of Aruba on January 1st, 1986, provisions were made in 1981 to have limited representation in Parliament for Saba in the form of a Spokesman . The Honourable Mr. Max Nicholson was chosen by the WIPM majority in the island Council of Saba to be our first Spokesman. On July 2nd, 1983 the island Council elected me to the position.
In the elections on Saba for direct parliamentary representation in 1985, I was the first Saban to be directly elected here to hold that position. In 1949 Mr. Charles Ernest Voges had been elected by Saba. Mr. Walter Granville Buncamper headed the ticket and got 101 votes but Mr. Voges as the number three candidate got 179 votes. Due to the fact that Mr. Plantz became a Minister and Mr. Voges was also on the ticket on St.Maarten, he became the Senator from St.Maarten and Mr. Buncamper was the Senator from Saba. His grandson Carl is now an island Councilmember in the Island Council of Saba. The first Minister appointed by Saba was also from St.Maarten and that was Mrs. Linda Badego Richardson. So you see that we like St.Maarten people. But I also have a message for St.Maarten here tonight. You have an unpaid check which is due to St.Eustatius and Saba. On April 1st 2008, the fact that we had been an Island Territory for 25 years went by unnoticed. In 1983 no division of assets took place between the Windward Islands. When I was a boy we were told by our politicians that we had to buy Big Brother St.Maarten a pair of shoes. Well when big brother got his pair of shoes he turned "Saga Boy" and left us behind. As malicious people would phrase it he showed us the South end of a North bound horse. We still have that unpaid check though. We do not intend to cash it. However we want to remind St.Maarten that many of their facilities came about because of the Island Territory the Windward Islands at the time. Saba and Statia want guaranteed access to those facilities. I remember well when the money was granted to improve the airport on St.Maarten the European Union representative said the money was being given for the three S's. And he said by that "I don't mean Sea, Sand and Sunshine, but Saba, St.Eustatius and St. Maarten."
We ask the St.Maarten representatives and the St.Maarten Government not to hold up the process and not to put any obstructions in the way for Saba and Statia to achieve their new status on December 15th, 2008.The GEBE is yet another story. The Saba Electric Company of my friend Elmer Linzey had to close down to make way for GEBE. There are many companies doing business on all three Windward Islands. No one would suggest that they belong to a particular island. These companies belong to the owners. GEBE's owners are Saba, Statia and St.Maarten and that is how it will beuntil a ruling on ownership is handed down by a Court of Justice. A last reminder to our brothers and sisters on St.Maarten. Of every dollar coming in to Saba and Statia at least fifty cents goes back into the economy of St.Maarten. We pay for all our services over there. The French (European Union) part of St.Maarten has an airport, hospital, shops and so on. For reasons of family Saba dn Statia will continue doing business with Dutch St.Maarten as long as you want us too. The agreements reached at the Round Table Conference in 1948, were cast aside by politicians from Curacao. Whereas there was parity in representation between Aruba and Curacao this was undone and at the same time Saba and Statia lost their representation in Parliament. At the time Mr. Lambert Hassell and Mr. Rupert Sorton the two local councilors on Saba made a protest by telegram against this undemocratic decision. The decision to take away representation from Aruba, Saba and Statia and to give it to Curacao, was like setting a time bomb under the future of the Netherlands Antilles. It was the main reason why Aruba finally left the Netherlands Antilles on January 1st, 1986.
A few weeks ago in a radio interview the Minister of Constitutional Affairs Mr. Roland Duncan said that the December 15th, 2008 date should be met. He implied that the main reason why the Central Government had seen its time was that it was sinking the islands in a sea of debt. The longer parliament and the Central Government try to carry on the illusion that we have a functioning Central Government for all the islands the worse it will be for all of us. My contention is that the Central Government has primarily served as a 2nd Government for Curacao.
A case in point. Windward Islands Airways is owned for 100% by the Central Government. Promises made to help the airline have not been met. The people of Saba and Statia are burdened and troubled by having to fly in old aircraft and there are not enough planes to have more flights. If Saba and Statia were part of The Netherlands we could hold them accountable to help us with better transportation. Who do we hold accountable on Curacao even though the airline is fully owned by the Central Government.We call on the Senators from the Windward Islands to do something for Windward Islands Airways.Whereas monies can be switched from The telecommunications Bureau to the University on Curacao monies promised to Winair were withheld. Instead of helping Saba and Statia lives on these two islands are being endangered because the Central Government is dragging its feet on the airline.
In the year 2000 the people of St. Maarten voted for a change of status. Their representatives via the Minister of Constitutional Affairs forced referenda's through on all the other islands. Saba had indicated that it was not too keen on holding a referendum.
However, when it was unavoidable, I led the charge and the people of Saba responded in a very positive way. There were people like Mr. Xavier Blackman who did a very professional job in informing the people as to the consequences of what a vote for each question on the ballot would mean to our people.
There were Members of Parliament from Curacao here who saw how the people came out and responded to the referendum.
Since that time there have been numerous meetings between the islands and Holland.
When we thought that Saba's interests were being neglected we headed to the United Nations. Three times we went to the United Nations and each time it got the results which we wanted. Just a week before we went the first time, Mr. Pechtold had informed the Second Chamber of Parliament in The Netherlands that he would not speak to individual islands and only to the Central Government on Curacao. While we were still in New York visiting different embassies, he told the Dutch news media that he did not know why Johnson had gone to the United Nations as he was willing to speak to Saba one on one about the future of this island. Our visit to the United Nations paid dividends to islands other than Saba as before our visit the Dutch Government had decided they were only going to speak to the Central Government on Curacao.
If we examine the root causes of why Aruba left the Netherlands Antilles it has to do with money. Already in 1890 the La Union newspaper on Curacao indicated that in the previous year the colonial government had pulled f.400.000 in revenues for phosphate out of Aruba and had spent it all on Curacao for a military hospital and fixing of roads. When Aruba received large revenues from the presence of the LAGO refinery on Aruba in the 1930's it gave Henny Eman a head start in promoting a separate status for Aruba.
At the RTC conference in 1948, and in the years before the Statute came in to effect, Holland was using the argument that it could not meet the demands of Aruba as in the Grondwet ( The Constitution of the Kingdom) it only mentions the Netherlands Antilles and not individual islands.In 1983 there was a complete revision of the Constitution and I couldn't find our name in it yesterday. In the Statute it talks about Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles. The governments of the BES islands should now call on the Netherlands to use the same arguments to incorporate the BES islands as special entities into the Netherlands. There is no need for a change in the Statute.
Saba tried to make it work. But just like Aruba, Saba became disillusioned with the system. Betico Croes in an interview with "Vrij Nederland" in 1978 said: "What we have achieved for Aruba I cannot surrender. I will never betray the cause. It may mean the end of my political career or I can even be murdered but I will never accept a Federation between Curacao and the other islands. It is always the same story. You accept a Federation. The mother country pulls back and the largest island of the Federation takes advantage of the smaller islands." This happened in 1983 as well. In order for Saba and Statia to get representation in parliament, Curacao demanded two more seats and St.Maarten was contented with 3 seats instead of the six they should have had. This contributed to the democratic deficit as highlighted by Senator William Marlin in parliament. Once again a Round Table Conference laid the basis for the dissolution of the country the Netherlands Antilles.
Although the revenue the Central Government pulls out of the Windward Islands seems to be a well kept State secret, I can assure you that it is around f.200 million guilders per year most of which is generated on St.Maarten. When I was a Member of Parliament I asked many questions about revenue generation in the Windward Islands. The Finance Department on Curacao cooks the books to throw up a smokescreen so that the true figures are not known. I got my figures through other sources after I left Parliament. Besides that the Social Security Bank collects from the Windward Islands over f.25 million, over and above what it pays out in these islands.
The Central Bank with its huge marble palace on Curacao pulls in millions from these islands annually with the 1% charge on transactions from dollar accounts and who knows what other charges there are.
The Central Government's expenses in these three islands are less that fifty million per year. In other words from direct taxes alone the Central Government is making a profit of around f.150 million per year out of the Windward Islands.
Since St.Maarten held its referendum in 2000 the Central Government by the end of this year will have pulled out f. 1 billion six hundred million guilders from the Windward Islands and only reinvested f. 400 million guilders. That is a net profit for Curacao of One billion two hundred million guilders. No wonder the Central Government and the Members of Parliament are telling people that we will not be ready by December 15th, 2008. Who from Curacao in their right mind would want to let go of revenue like that? Also the Federal Government is responsible to levy taxes which could have benefited the small islands. Instead of levying taxes many prominent officials have served as shareholders, advisors, accountants and lawyers to the Statia Oil terminal. Many potential large taxpayers inform the Commissioners of Finances that they have excellent relations with the Minister of Finance. Sad to say the Island Territory of Saba did not and still does not have the excellent relations with the Minister, which non-paying large businesses claim to have with the authorities of the Central Government.
Now the victims of neglect are being blamed. The Judiciary is a Central Government responsibility and yet the Island Government of St. Maarten is being blamed for crime over there. If St. Maarten had the revenue which goes to Curacao they could have hired one policeman for each and every citizen and on Saba we could have done the same.
My son Commissioner Chris Johnson in a meeting on Bonaire just a few weeks ago said that East Germany, a communist state , was integrated into Capitalist West Germany in less than a year. East Germany then had 18 million people. How difficult is it then to integrate less than 20 thousand people on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba into the Dutch State? We have been talking about this matter for years already. Saba is ready .Without external advisors Saba has been defending its case and preparing for its new status and WE ARE READY.
The BES islands have the best advisors available to it. In the Bonaire meeting the unofficial senior advisors to the BES islands were and still are: Former Prime Minister Minguel Pourier, Former Governor-general Jaime Saleh, Member of the 1st Chamber of the Dutch Parliament, Mr. Hans Hillen, Mr. Ralph Berkel of St.Eustatius and your not so humble servant presently speaking.
You mean to tell me that the group I just mentioned are not qualified enough to tell you Members of Parliament that the BES islands are ready now.
The islands are under higher supervision. Saba and the other islands have had to make painful adjustments in their budgets. They did so with no help at all from the Central Government. If Saba is not under Dutch administration next year and it has to comply with the higher supervision requirements, civil servants will have to be laid off. Will our Senators guarantee the people of Saba that they will find a way out of the problem? My experience as Commissioner of Finance and Acting Lt. Governor between the period of 1998 and 2007 can only be described as one of being a victim of multiple drive-by shootings. Every time I stuck my head up to defend Saba, the Minister of Finance and the Director of Finance on Curacao had their rifles aimed at me to shoot me down.
My staff in the Finance Department and the Receivers Office and my other Commissioner Miss Lisa Hassell and Island Council Member Rolando Wilson can attest to the struggle I had to put up to keep Saba solvent and to carry it through all the hurricanes which we endured. Again let me say that on April 1st, 2008, the 25th anniversary of Saba being its own Island Territory passed by quietly. I can tell you that my opposition in 1983 were frightening the people and telling them that Saba was not ready. I made a bold move and fought for Saba to become an Island Territory and it has only served to benefit the people of Saba.
I say to you and the world here tonight, Saba and the BES islands are ready.
Yes Saba is ready. I say to you also that it was my intention to stay home and to leave politics behind me, however as Betico Croes said in 1978 I am not prepared to work in my garden and let the gains Saba has achieved since 1983 be lost. We consider one of the gains is that Holland is willing to assume responsibility for the people of Saba at last and after a long and hard struggle on our part.
Those Members of Parliament and the Central Government who say we are not ready must be asked to be specific. What has parliament done to speed up the process? Will parliament dissolve itself? There are those who are saying that you cannot expect the turkey to prepare the thanksgiving party. The BES islands have reached all agreements with the Dutch Government for them to be taken up as Public Entities under article 134 of the Dutch Constitution. The Dutch State Secretary has promised the Government of Saba that she is willing to come here soon to explain Holland's willingness to take over the BES islands by December 15th, 2008. The senior advisors of the BES islands are telling the Governments that they are ready.
I wish all of you personally well, but I ask each and every one of you to put country above self and to carry out the wishes of the people as expressed in the referendums and in the agreements reached so far. Among the BES islands we all had to make compromises. If we do not get our new status by next year it will mean serious hardships for our islands. I urge you to call an urgent meeting of parliament and demand that The Netherlands live up to the agreements it has made with the islands.Specifically I call on you in that motion to express your willingness for the Dutch to take over the BES islands as agreed and that to that end the Parliament will do all it has to do to make that possible. If you fail to make a loud noise the people will take it that you are not interested in their welfare but in your own. It can only do your image good to correct that. Before you go to Holland in June to face the anger of Mr. Brinkman, Wilders and company, pass a motion in the Staten calling on the Netherlands with immediate effect to incorporate the BES islands in The Netherlands and to assume their responsibility.
The senior advisors to the BES islands feel it can be done and so should you.
And when doubt troubles you about the December 15th agreement, remind yourself in the words of that noble young man running for President of the United States: "Yes we can. Yes we can .YES WE CAN!!
Congratulations on this the final anniversary of Parliament. It has been interesting to Saba while it lasted. Let us not have to experience the remaining time as a millstone around the necks of the people of Saba. The rest is in your hands and I know it can be done. I was a Member of Parliament for nearly 15 years and I left a record behind that still carries weight throughout the islands. I thank all of you and hope that you will recognize this speech for what it really is. A desperate plea on behalf of the people of the BES islands for help from our parliament.
Thank You.
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