By Hilbert Haar
Fifteen years and counting … that is the story of a proper dispute regulation and the end is nowhere in sight. Never mind that the Kingdom Charter ordered the establishment of such legislation. It matters to the Caribbean autonomous countries St. Maarten, Curacao and Aruba, but, based on results, it does not matter at all to the Dutch government.
The Caribbean kingdom-countries desperately want that dispute regulation because it would limit the authority of the kingdom government, assuming of course that the legislation would make this possible.
What is it that the countries want? An independent institution that rules on disputes between the Kingdom (read: the Netherlands) and St. Maarten, Aruba and Curacao. Is that too much to ask? According to the Dutch government it is, though they will never say this with those exact words.
At the heart of the matter is obviously one word: control. The Netherlands considers itself the big brother in the kingdom and those small islands in the Caribbean just have to swallow whatever the government in The Hague decides.
Because of this attitude, the relationship between the Caribbean countries and the Netherlands has deteriorated over the years. Distrust and animosity have become the order of the day.
This is not to say that everything is honkydory in the Caribbean. Our small island states are not always living up to Dutch and local expectations. Maybe this is due to the quality of our politicians and to what some have called village-politics.
For sure, there is plenty of room for improvement but if the past fifteen years have shown anything it is this: there is a lack of resources (money and people) to do what needs to be done. This is a recurring theme without a solution because the Dutch government is not prepared to pump endless amounts of money overseas to save the islands. Forget it.
Recent history also shows that the instructions issued by the Dutch have no effect at all, other than causing some temporary political uproar.
The relationship with the Netherlands has all the characteristics of a circus act and nobody seems to be able to find a solution.
And yet, that solution cannot be found in The Hague. It cannot even be found in a proper dispute regulation. In my opinion, it can only be found in the actions of responsible governments. If politicians clean up their act and serve the people who elected them for that very purpose we are already halfway there.
And this needs to happen now, not tomorrow or the day after, because thinking that a proper dispute regulation is going to solve all of our problems would be a serious mistake.
And besides, waiting for the establishment of that piece of legislation is a bit like waiting for a train in St. Maarten. In case you had not noticed: there is no train and there never will be.
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Related articles:
After fifteen years, the dispute regulation remains a bone of contention
Dutch position on dispute regulation is a disappointment, according to Sarah Wescot-Williams
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