Remarks about Dutch side ‘ridiculous’, says Charville Thursday, 24 July 2014 01:42 page8b056MARIGOT--Independent Territorial Councillor and President of True Hope for St. Martin Jules Charville reacted Wednesday to Parliamentarian Rene Dosières derogatory comments regarding the French sides relationship with St. Maarten, published recently in the local French side press. Dosière was co-rapporteur with MP Daniel Gibbs on the fact-finding Parliamentary Mission in St. Martin from which the first conclusions were submitted to the National Assembly last week. Gibbs had requested the mission which began in May, to analyse the difficulties and hurdles the Collectivité has been facing since the change of status in 2007. The mission comprised a series of interviews with key players, ex-Préfets, ex-Ministers, politicians and technicians, and so on in Paris, St. Martin and The Hague. The full report contains 33 proposals which are due to be published soon on the National Assembly website. I was very surprised to read the Dutch side was blamed for the situation on the French side, as if to say if there was a barrier at the frontier to block them off from the Dutch side, their problems would be over. To say the French side is getting poorer and the Dutch side richer...thats ridiculous. St. Maarten on its own has made good policy choices for economic development and investment. It is also constantly looking for new opportunities to increase its influence and attractiveness. In my view, its a way to cover up the shortfalls of the State (France), which shamefully is not doing what it was supposed to do, namely to provide the Fonds dAccompagnement (funds given to get started in a new status). That never happened. The reason we are in a chaotic state and economic failure is because of the State. Charville said he was especially surprised that Gibbs, as a St. Martiner on that committee, appeared to have agreed with his colleagues and accepted these statements. To make these statements, it can only mean you have not studied the history of St. Martin. Threatening to denounce the Treaty of Concordia is to cut off the inner strength of St. Martin, the essence of what St. Martin is all about, the togetherness of one island, one people, the symbolic border, free movement of people. The treaty is the basis of the attraction of this country and these people seem to know nothing of St. Martin. They said the Friendly Island does not correspond to any example of cooperation. No, its not a one-way street. Yes, the money from social benefits is changed into dollars and spent on the Dutch side; but that has always happened, even in the time of the Franc. Sometimes you cannot find what you want on the French side and vice versa on the Dutch side. There has always been this movement of funds back and forth. The expensive restaurants in Grand Case; they would not survive without the tourists coming from the Dutch side. That money comes from the Dutch side and the turnover tax goes to the Collectivité. So its not a one-way street. The taxi drivers, they all go to the port in Pointe Blanche or to the airport to make a living, because theres nothing happening on the French side. To say that France is financing the economy of the Dutch side is totally false. Charville added the report should recommend ways of preventing social aid, such as Caisse Allocation Familiale (CAF) and Revenu Solidarité Active (RSA) monies from going to other countries with a system that keeps the money circulating only on the French side. This money may pass through the Dutch side, but in fact its going via Western Union to other countries, he said. Then there are the abusers of the system, the people who dont even live on the French side, who are claiming CAF and RSA. How can we stop this? I was expecting to hear solutions to this, not to hear the Dutch side is getting rich because of France. On the RSA, he said he hoped it would be recommended to the State to take it back and relieve the Collectivité of this financial burden that costs 16 million euros per year and accounts for 12 per cent of the operating budget.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 18:11:26 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015