St. Maarten MPs challenge Kingdom to move from talk to real cooperation

THE HAGUE--Chairlady of the Parliament of St. Maarten, MP Sarah Wescot-Williams, CKAIR Chairlady MP Sjamira Roseburg and MP Omar Ottley used Saturday’s IPKO panel discussion in the Netherlands to call for Kingdom cooperation that is more practical, more respectful and more connected to the people it is meant to serve.

The panel discussion centered on the main IPKO theme, “Cooperation within IPKO and within the Kingdom.” The St. Maarten MPs each approached the subject from a different angle: Wescot-Williams called for complex Kingdom issues to be brought closer to the people of St. Maarten in language they understand; Roseburg questioned whether all Kingdom partners are showing the same level of commitment to cooperation; and Ottley argued that discussions on equality, democratic deficit and reparative responsibility must move beyond speeches and into concrete action.

The panel was chaired by Anouschka Biekman, Chairlady of IPKO, and moderated by Professor Wouter Veenendaal, Professor of Kingdom Relations at Leiden University. The invited speakers included Paul Comenencia, State Councilor for the Kingdom; Maria van der Sluijs-Plantz, Chairwoman of the Evaluation Committee for the Mutual Arrangement for Cooperation on Reforms; Bote ter Steege, former Attorney General of Aruba and former Chief Public Prosecutor for the BES islands; and Roban van Herk, consultant at TNO and co-author of the report on the energy transition in Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten.

Wescot-Williams said the presentations made during the panel raised issues that should not remain confined to parliamentary or technical circles. She said discussions on Kingdom cooperation, reform, culture, language and institutional development must be elevated to a national dialogue in St. Maarten.

She noted that approximately 86 percent of the population of St. Maarten speaks English and said that language and culture must be taken seriously if the people are to understand and participate meaningfully in discussions about the country’s future.

Wescot-Williams asked how information from professional presentations and policy discussions could be brought closer to the people of St. Maarten, not only through politicians, but also through experts and institutions. She said St. Maarten is a young country facing difficult challenges and must find ways to involve the average man and woman in thinking about the country’s future.

She said she remains optimistic that St. Maarten can make its constitutional and national development path work, but also realistic that the country cannot do it alone. She again pointed to the importance of institutional cooperation, saying that discussions about the future of the Kingdom must be communicated across the ocean in languages and formats that people in St. Maarten can understand and engage with.

In response, Paul Comenencia suggested that the upcoming Kingdom Conference, expected to take place in St. Maarten later this year, could serve as an important moment to begin building the type of national dialogue Wescot-Williams called for. He said parliamentarians must maintain continuous contact with the people and use the conference as a starting point for broader public engagement.

Maria van der Sluijs-Plantz also responded, noting that the Evaluation Committee included an English summary in its report, while acknowledging that the full report was not translated. She said members of the committee would be willing to visit St. Maarten to have the discussion directly with the people.

Wescot-Williams stressed in her reply that the issue is not only about translating a report or presentation, but about creating real dialogue and understanding around the matters being discussed. She said that type of dialogue is what she wants to see, and that while St. Maarten’s leaders must take the lead, the matter is directly connected to the cooperation that IPKO is focused on.

Roseburg focused first on the physical representation in the room, questioning whether the size of the Dutch delegation reflected the level of commitment needed for genuine cooperation.

Roseburg said she was thankful for the members of the Dutch delegation who were present, but noted that the delegations from St. Maarten, Curaçao and Aruba had traveled across the ocean to participate in the discussions, while only a relatively small number of Dutch parliamentarians were present on Saturday. She said this raised an important question about how seriously cooperation is being approached.

She said that if the Kingdom partners truly want to work together, they must be willing to look each other in the eye and have an honest conversation about the level of commitment being shown. Roseburg also recalled that when IPKO was held in Aruba, the Dutch delegation was much larger, leaving the question of consistency and commitment open for discussion.

Roseburg also addressed remarks made publicly by a Dutch parliamentarian, which she said could be experienced as hurtful. She noted that the parliamentarian in question, was not present at the moment, but said she would have welcomed a direct dialogue with him. She expressed hope that he would still attend before the end of IPKO, so that differences could be discussed openly and respectfully. The Dutch MP she referred to was PVV MP Elmar Vlottes who recently said: “One euro would still be quite a high yield" for the Dutch Caribbean islands.  

Turning to justice cooperation, Roseburg referred to discussions on TBS, the Dutch system of treatment under detention for certain offenders. She noted that while criminal law is generally a national responsibility, human rights concerns under the European Convention on Human Rights can turn such matters into Kingdom-level concerns.

Roseburg said the Kingdom should not wait until a problem reaches its final stage before cooperation begins. She referred to the Murray case as an example showing why the countries should not wait until the last moment. She said there must be more early-stage cooperation on complex justice matters, especially where smaller islands do not have the capacity to independently operate specialized facilities such as a TBS clinic.

She also pointed to a case in Aruba in which a young man had to wait many years, saying such delays can have serious consequences for the community. Roseburg said cooperation should begin at the earliest stage, rather than only after a matter has already become urgent or problematic.

Roseburg also addressed language and culture in the justice system. She said that while she understands the importance of investing in the Dutch language in the countries, the point must also be viewed through the lens of mutual cooperation. She said that when prosecutors and judges come to the islands, they must also invest in understanding the local culture.

She stressed that criminal law is one of the areas where human rights are most directly involved. If there is a disconnect between the population and those who administer justice, she said, something is lost in the process. Roseburg said the responsibility is two-sided: island residents may need support in language and legal systems, but justice officials coming from abroad must also make the effort to understand the culture and people they serve.

In response, Bote ter Steege indicated agreement with Roseburg’s point on reciprocity. He said prosecutors in St. Maarten may be expected to do their best to speak English, just as prosecutors in other parts of the Kingdom are expected to adjust to the local setting. He also noted that many legal documents are prepared by local staff and that understanding Dutch remains important in the legal process. He said the matter is one of reciprocity.

Ottley addressed the wider disconnect between the language of cooperation and the lived reality of inequality within the Kingdom. He said that while speeches about agreements, commitments and working together are valuable, something remains fundamentally disconnected if the same issues return every year without real progress.

Ottley linked the discussion on the democratic deficit to inequality and to the feeling that the countries are not always treated as equal partners. He said that if the Kingdom speaks about equality, then that equality must be reflected in practical support, shared advancement and respect.

He also addressed reparations, saying the discussion should not be reduced to money. For Ottley, reparations should include helping the islands build infrastructure, schools, technology and a stronger way of life. He said it should also include sharing knowledge, sharing advancement and examining debt cancellation.

Ottley reminded participants that St. Maarten’s Parliament had unanimously passed a motion years ago calling for debt cancellation to be explored. He said debt cancellation could help St. Maarten grow and move forward.

He argued that every island present in the Kingdom has in some way contributed to the enrichment of the Netherlands. Therefore, when the islands ask for support, he said, they do so from a position shaped by history and structural disadvantage, not by choice. Ottley said the purpose of support should be to help lift the islands to where they need to be, so that future discussions are no longer about what is missing, but about what has been achieved.

The contributions of Wescot-Williams, Roseburg and Ottley together placed St. Maarten’s position clearly within the IPKO discussion: cooperation must be practical, equal, culturally aware and connected to the people. The MPs stressed that the Kingdom must move beyond recurring speeches and toward a model of partnership that recognizes language, representation, capacity, justice, history and the lived reality of the Caribbean countries.

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