Honorable Prime Minister,
“You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.” — Admiral James Stockdale.
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A brutal fact is that Tourism will not “just” bounce back.
A brutal fact is that our economy couldn’t sustain itself prior to the dual blows of the Irma & COVID-19 crises, let alone sustain an increase in social spending.
A brutal fact is that using what little reserves there are, (AOV/AWW and/or APS and/or the CBCS) will not be enough to guarantee our economic future.
A brutal fact is that we cannot lay any claim on Dutch taxpayers as we chose not to be part of their system and don’t contribute to those funds.
A brutal fact is that the Country package for St. Maarten contains many projects that have been agreed upon as needed for the improvement of Country St. Maarten.
A brutal fact is that in the very near future we will need additional liquidity support for both the public and the private sector.
It is seconds to midnight. Sint Maarten must find the courage to confront these brutal realities and grab the opportunity to improve its outlook for the long term. Any possibility should be, with properly structured stakeholder involvement, considered at this point.
Using autonomy, or the perceived infringement there upon, as an excuse not to exhaust all avenues for help amounts to throwing sand in people’s eyes. We continue complaining while doing little, all while a Kingdom instruction looms. When will we take collective responsibility for our shortcomings, grab the bull by the horns and start planning our revival with the help being offered through the reform entity? We can be as autonomous as we want to be, by showing that we have a grip on reality and are willing to do what is necessary to ensure the best possible future for our population.
https://www.soualiganewsday.com/index.php?option=com-k2&view=item&id=33332:shta-open-letter-to-the-prime-minister&Itemid=450
