Member of Parliament George Pantophlet. I will not go into the details of the speeches that were made
by the Dutch European representatives because there are many differences of opinions. What was quite
clear is that statements related to financial reparations were avoided by all the presenters. My focus is
not on the apology but on the actions that I want to see after the apology. It is a known fact that I am a
proponent of debt cancellation. I see this as vital to our social economic and political development.
There will be comments or arguments as to who will get the funds and whether the inhabitants will
benefit and I agree that these are warranted. It can be overwhelming if one finds themselves one day
steeped in financial debt and the other overflowing with an abundance of funds at ones disposal. If
there is no discipline chaos and confusion as to the allocation of these funds can occur. However this is
no excuse to deny the fact that financial obligation by the Dutch government is a condition sin qua non.
The matter of reparations in my opinion is a process that will take some time. We have only to consult
with our Caribbean family specifically the Caricom reparations committee to see how that is going. I
prefer at this time while the committee mentioned by Prime Minister Sylveria Jacobs is being put
together that we go after the low hanging fruits. In June of 2021 I presented a motion requesting debt
cancellation. St. Maarten’s debt of some 1.2 billion guilders at the time on which I was told by Minister
of Finance Ardwel Irion a payment of 12.7 million guilders was being made annually. At this rate after
some 100 years we would still be paying this debt. Hence my motion which was approved by all 14
members of parliament including my person of course. I consider this debt cancellation a low hanging
fruit since the amount of the debt is known. If the Dutch government is really serious with their apology,
actions speak louder than words. Another low hanging fruit is the capacity challenges. I am quite sure
that the TWO or temporary work group together with government can come up with the cost of
addressing the capacity challenges. It is known by both (TWO and Government) which departments are
affected and what is needed. Departments such as finance, Justice and VSA and I can include general
affairs definitely are in this group when it comes to capacity challenges. Those figures can be easily
established as to the required knowledge, training and salary scales to attract the needed skills. The
authors of the report have to be clear on what they mean and I quote: “Unfortunately the Ministry of
VSA has trouble keeping agreements” end of quote. For me this is a serious statement. As I stated
earlier this cost can easily be calculated and for me be placed under my heading of low hanging fruit. An
extremely important matter for me is the study financing debt owed to DUO in the Netherlands by our
St. Maarten students. This should be paid off by the Dutch government. And similarly for those who are
presently studying there now and the monies already paid by the St. Maarten government to these
students should be refunded by the Dutch government. The amounts are known. The 200 million euro’s
for education on slavery past and the three year study of King Willem Alexander are fine but the people
need relief now. If the Dutch government can find billions of euros to invest in defense surely they can
find say around 250 million euros from the defense budget alone to invest in revamping our education
system. While reparations are being worked on let us deal with the low hanging fruits.
A Happy, Healthy, Productive and Safe 2023 from my wife Augustine and I to the beautiful people of St.
Maarten and those all over the world.