The Netherlands Antilles

Jack Warner has solved for me a lifelong problem, the traditional ignorance of persons abroad of who is Trinidad and Tobago. I can now say "We are in the World Cup, you know, the smallest country ever to qualify."

Last week, I was in two of the Dutch Caribbean islands, on company director duties. I successfully tested the World Cup reference. An Italian in St Maarten, having overcome his initial uncertainty about Trinidad and Tobago, told me: "Yes I saw that game. You will be my favourite foreign team."

This is but a small indication of how robustly we must push to have the rest of the world adopt us as their "favourite foreign team". It will help dilute, but not eliminate the negative image of Trinidad and Tobago abroad. Still in St Maarten, I was talking to a North American who knew all about the death of Dr Koury. He expressed his concern to me "about what you folks are going through in Trinidad".

I love the Dutch islands. The Antilleans and the Arubans are sophisticated and multilingual. Their islands are clean and crime is not an issue, whatever the North Americans are saying about Natalee Hollaway. For five days I never had to focus on my personal safety either in St Maarten or Curacao. This relief was the same when I was in Aruba a few months ago.

Perhaps, before I go further, I should list the larger islands and describe their constitutional arrangements, which keep their politics dynamic. The ABC islands are Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. Of the others, St Maarten is currently the most prosperous. It has a very high tourism profile. Originally the islands were all part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Holland) but in 1986 Aruba, after decades of dispute, broke away and made its own arrangements directly with the Kingdom.

The islands other than Aruba have island councillors directly elected to take care of island affairs in their own island legislatures. The Executive of each island comprises of Commissioners, who are selected or agreed upon by the political parties represented in the island councils. There is a separate Central Government of the Netherlands Antilles, which is also directly elected. The central Government has Ministers. If you are not a Minister it is possible to be elected to both an island council and the central legislature. I met one such person to whom I will refer later.
The breakaway of Aruba was not unique.

Then, as now, the islands are frequently in dispute about the allocation of resources between them, particularly the considerable benefits received from the Kingdom. In fact, it has now been agreed that the islands will not necessarily remain linked in a Central Government, but like Aruba, will be able to go their own way and deal directly with Holland. It is likely in the not too distant future St Maarten will have "status apart" just as Aruba does. By contrast, the very small island of Saba (population 1,300) may wish to become a colony of the Dutch again.

There are many political parties and Governments are usually formed by fragile coalitions. By contrast, Aruba has for the first time one party in power, although only by a majority of one. In separate visits this year to Aruba and Curacao, I had the privilege of meeting the Prime Ministers of Aruba and of the Netherlands Antilles, respectively. There is nothing pompous about them and no entourages and trappings were visible.

Similarly, a former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles, a native of Bonaire, now a Board colleague, as well as the current Prime Minister of the Central Government both went into politics agreeing to serve for limited terms. They stuck to their word. Neither of them clung to office like laglee. Depending on the outcome of elections in January, the new Prime Minister of the Central Government may be a woman of Lebanese origin.

Success for women in politics of the Dutch islands is routine now. In St Maarten I met Senator Maria Buncamper-Molanus. She is the person that is both an island council member for St Maarten and also a Member of Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles. This young, effervescent parliamentarian was very patient with me and explained the intricacies of forming coalition Governments and the relationship between the islands and the Kingdom.

I specifically asked her why the islands were able to run their own lives independently but yet obtain so many benefits and support from Holland, when, by contrast, in the English-speaking Caribbean, our interests and those of the British are estranged to the extent that the fragile economies of the agricultural islands were deliberately destroyed to accommodate competing North American and European banana interests. She explained that in treating with the Dutch, the Antilleans never foolishly put pride over logic.