SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY) - Member of Parliament (MP) and Democratic Party leader Sarah Wescot-Williams has written to Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs Luc Mercelina.
The MP has asked for a full update on Sint Maarten's progress under the Country Package and on the Government's response to the independent evaluation of the reform cooperation between the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten.
The evaluation report, "Contouren van vooruitgang: De werking van samenwerken", concludes that important reforms have been started, but many are still moving from planning to implementation and institutional embedding.
The Evaluation Committee recommends continuing the cooperation beyond April 2027. For Sint Maarten, it highlights the need to strengthen the institutional base, prioritize and phase reforms, and better align recovery and reform efforts.
"These findings go to the heart of our governance, our public finances, our economic development and our future relations within the Kingdom," Wescot-Williams said. "Parliament needs to know where the Government stands on this report, what has actually been achieved, and what it intends to do before the current arrangement ends."
In her letter, the MP asks the Government for: its overall assessment of the report and its findings on Sint Maarten; the status of the Country Package reforms: which are completed, which are underway, which are delayed and which are outstanding; its response to the recommendation to strengthen financial management, digitalization, organizational development and public sector capacity, and the measures being taken to address persistent capacity constraints; how the reform agenda is aligned with recovery and reconstruction initiatives, including those of the National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB); its position on extending the Mutual Arrangement for Cooperation on Reforms beyond April 2027, and whether talks with the Netherlands on an extension have formally begun; its priorities for the remaining period and the reforms it considers essential to complete before April 2027; and the lessons learned so far and how they will shape future cooperation within the Kingdom.
Wescot-Williams noted that the Evaluation Committee specifically recommended that clarity on the future of the cooperation framework be provided during 2026. "We are now in the final months of 2026," she said. "The people of Sint Maarten and Parliament should not learn about the future of this arrangement after the decisions have been made. I look forward to the Government's response at the earliest opportunity."
