Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
The first meeting between Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs and his Curaçao counterpart Ivar Asjes is said to have gone well (see related story). Their respective cabinets consider it important to maintain good relations.
While that is also the case for Aruba, one must keep in mind that St. Maarten and Curaçao are more than kingdom partners. They share an attorney-general who heads the prosecution of both territories, but also a Central Bank and common currency.
The latter also means actions by each member of this monetary union can have an impact on the other. Bad decisions of one could affect the balance of payments as a whole in certain situations and consequently the stability of the joint Antillean guilder in a negative manner.
If either's value of imports were to structurally exceed that of exports, this might even deplete the crucial foreign exchange reserves of the totality sooner or later. The two economies, while separate, are therefore still very much tied together.
Some may find that strange, because getting out from under the control of the former Central Government in Willemstad was, after all, one of the main reasons in any case for St. Maarten to have the Netherlands Antilles dismantled per 10-10-10. However, the reality is that the Dutch Government at the time tied certain conditions to the two islands becoming so-called autonomous countries within the Dutch kingdom.
Like it or not, the result is that their destinies – at least for now – continue to be interwoven. In that sense, this "Siamese Twins" setup makes coordinating policies a necessity rather than an option.
However, taking into account developments since regarding not only the Central Bank but, for example, also Curaçao-based United Telecommunications Services (UTS) in which St. Maarten has minority share, the impression is that such cooperation surely can be handled in a more effective manner. Hopefully the current visit will contribute to just that.
Correction:
Yesterday's editorial talked about Friday's robbing of a jewellery store although the related news article clearly stated that the incident took place on Sunday morning. At the time there was indeed only one cruise ship in port, as correctly mentioned later on in the same opinion column. The author apologises for the error.
