Jorien Wuite: We ain’t done yet | THE DAILY HERALD

Wuite with her fellow Ministers PLenipotentiary Anthony Begina (Curaçao) and Guifred Bisaril (Aruba).

 

 

THE HAGUE–Fresh from a successful 15-month stint as Minister Plenipotentiary in the Hague, Jorien Wuite is satisfied, happy to return and at the same time sad that she has to leave, but also ready to sink her teeth into what the future brings. “I wasn’t done yet. But we ain’t done yet in St. Maarten either,” she said during an exclusive interview with The Daily Herald.

  As Wuite is returning to St. Maarten this week to run as Number 3 on the United Democrats slate, she looked back over the past year-and-a-half as Gevolmachtigd Minister (GevMin) in The Hague.

  “While I was very committed to the position of interim Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport I had considered the position of GevMin as an option as well when I took part in the elections in 2018; I figured that I could have been a suitable and experienced candidate; in The Hague I would be able to put all my expertise to work for St. Maarten. I have the extensive experience of working in Government and I had some understanding of the governance practices and political culture in the Netherlands,” she said.

 

Diplomacy

  “I am proud of the leaps we took as Cabinet and even more proud that I could lead that team,” she stressed. “We had to restore and expand relations with various stakeholders such as the First and Second Chambers, Council of State, Ministries and other international agencies or embassies. And aside from the political diplomacy I considered it important that we also show a different side of St. Maarten that is hardly ever presented here. Our island is a vibrant cultural melting pot and there is a lot of power in that. I didn’t intend to do this job only the way it was conceived back in 1954; we make serious investments in the function of Minister Plenipotentiary and the Cabinet and so we need to consider all avenues for our political, social, cultural and economic interests” she explained.

  Her office set up several firsts for the Cabinet: in October she served as ambassador to the Black Achievement Month and earlier before in the summer, she also actively participated in matters related to the dispute regulation. For the St. Maarten Day her cabinet organized a festival style celebration in the Migratie museum in The Hague, as well as the first ever “Around the Island Relay Race” in the Netherlands. “These were successful events. We wanted to brand our island and show people here how we do things back home!”

  The way she approached things is based on her personality. “I am very passionate, and I like taking some risks. I am not someone who holds back and waits for a mandate with a minimal contribution. I believe that it was my task to always show the added value of having the Minister Plenipotentiary here in The Hague.”

 

Economic diplomacy

  As her second year on the job got underway in August, she took it up a notch with initiatives related to economic diplomacy. “We have to realize that the impact of Irma and climate related risks require that we explore new strategies and opportunities to change how we do things on our island,” she said. She mentioned the need to engage and work with young and not so young St. Maarten professionals in The Netherlands. “We have our own St. Maarten professionals that have developed a macro economic model that calculates the impact of hurricanes, or another professional that came up with new sustainable scenarios based on renewable energy for our dump. They require our attention, a platform and follow up through consultancies or other forms of employment,” she said.

  She invited the ambassadors of countries on the African continent for introductions. “I spoke to the representatives of Tanzania, Nigeria and South Africa. We have our shared heritage and diaspora and their countries are keen to creating stronger ties with the Caribbean. They want a more active exchange and connectivity which is worthwhile to explore as we see other sister islands such as Barbados do as well.”

  Recalling those meetings excited her. She went on: “I jumpstarted new relations and we started opening doors and yes, I am definitely happy how we progressed in such a short term. Like our relationship with the Technical University in Delft. Architecture students from this university are set to visit our island to explore and assist with modern and sustainable designs that can weather various risks related to the impact of natural disasters.”

  “We have many entrepreneurs of St. Maarten descent who do beautiful things here. How do we encourage and support them to also offer their services in St. Maarten, in Curaçao, Suriname or the wider Caribbean? There are many professionals here who have something special to offer and all they’re looking for is a little bit of support from the people who represent their island.”

  And, the Minister Plenipotentiary ploughed on, at the same time there is also something to be said about the opportunities here for entrepreneurs on the island. “Are there start-ups and maybe established businesses in St. Maarten that could export their goods and services to Europe? Have they been receiving the right encouragement to also consider selling their product here or elsewhere in Europe?” The Cabinet organised a pre-event for SMILE, supported and intensified relations with the Chamber of Commerce and I was happy to invite a St. Maarten professional to join me to Rijksdienst Voor Ondernemers, the Kingdom Department for Entrepreneurs.”

  Wuite said she believed that entrepreneurship in St. Maarten should diversify. “That should be the long-term strategy. We have learned from Irma that our tourism-based economy is fragile to unexpected shocks; we should be proud of being able to rebuild in such a rapid pace; we’re back at 70 percent from where we were left after the destruction of the hurricanes two years ago, but we need to look at what we can do to remain stable and stronger. We know after all that it could happen any moment again. That is a climate change related reality that puts small island states like us under pressure.

  So, while we look at what investors and business we can bring to St. Maarten, we should also look at how we can encourage our new or existing entrepreneurs to diversify. And export. I am not an expert economist, but I am sure that it will make our economy stronger. Investments in the education, agriculture, sport and creative sectors can complement our tourism-based economy and serve as economic sectors by themselves,” she explained.

  But, she added, first things must be done first; a recovering economy requires some serious reflection and adjustments to ensure that the available World Bank trust fund and other potentially available funds truly work for everyone, especially groups that are vulnerable and without vital and full support thus far. And, she added, the National Recovery Programme Bureau (NRPB) should not rely on the World Bank trust fund only: a broader perspective can change the tensions and extreme focus on The Netherlands and this is necessary for our St. Maarten narrative of recovery and resilience.

 

Human capital

  Wuite said she realises that her time was short and could not hide her frustration with the destabilising political climate. “When you truly believe in- and are committed to support our human capital you know that there is a lot that has to be done,” she said. “I spoke to a lot of young St. Maarten students, encouraging them to return home.” But she also noted that the island should be mindful not to alienate them, as students need to be able to connect with our government and feel that sense of trust.

  “Our island is in need for younger generations to contribute and innovate. We are lagging behind in comparison to the rest of the region. We have students here in the Netherlands for example, studying law and we know that we need to build a society based on the principles of the rule of law. Are we making it interesting for them to return in a competitive world as they seek opportunities and lifelong learning? We spent the second quarter this year lobbying for a programme with Dutch institutes, such as BZK and the legislation academy: to initiate a one year programme so that our young law professionals can enrol with SXM paid traineeships in Dutch ministries prior to their return to the island with a 5-year contract as legislation adviser with the government.

  “We need to get that human capital to work for us and I am happy that I was able to invite interested law degree students to St. Maarten and that cabinet members met with them as my term came to an end,” she said.

  As I also spoke with her about identity, Wuite stresses the importance of identity and belonging, but she also warned against a tendency to gauge people’s devotion to St. Maarten according to their heritage. “We should be cautious for the you aint born here’ approach, because truth be told the majority of the people are not from St. Maarten and we should not consider them to be secondary citizens. The real question is what you are willing to do in the interest of the country, no matter if you were born there. And I know a lot of people are, if given the chance. We live in a polarised world and we should refrain from taking over excessive nationalistic tendencies that we’re seeing in the US and here in the Netherlands,” she said.

  She hinted at the Black Achievement Month in the Netherlands for which she served as ambassador. “Black Achievement Month was conceived as a platform to show the Netherlands that there is a lot of potential hidden in the black community … and our diverse community is sometimes overlooked here in the Netherlands. We are a beautiful melting pot and so we can be an example for all the beautiful opportunities that the diversity agenda should promote in the Netherlands or elsewhere. Look at me for instance; I was born right here in The Hague and as I speak Dutch as well, this has often been an advantage. But make no mistake: I am here as a St. Maartener representing St. Maarten!”

  Wuite, whose mother is from St. Maarten and whose father is Dutch, relocated to the island in 1997, where she went to work as Director of the Department of Health and then Secretary General of both the Ministry of Public health, Social development and Labour, as well as the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports. In 2018, shortly after hurricanes Irma and Maria passed, she was appointed Minister of Education Culture Youth Affairs and Sports in the then interim government.

  After elections, she was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary. “In broad terms, the job has been what I expected it to be, but I also came across things that surprised me. The Kingdom Council of Ministers, to which I was a member, is an interesting platform. I was working on special rules of order in collaboration with the cabinets of Aruba and Curaçao. As I am now unable to take this proposal further, I honestly hope that my former colleague – or “Geffies as I affectionately call them – will advance with the Cabinet of St. Maarten and the new GevMin of St. Maarten to ensure that we are respected as a country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

  The collaboration between our Governments was challenging and even tough at times. And I have seen many opportunities that we as St. Maarten did not always take advantage of. But I do think I have achieved a lot in the 15 months that I was honoured to do the job,” she said, adding at a lower, more modest tone “I have received many positive reactions about my time here. People have confided in me that they felt that I have been able to give our cabinet a touch that they had never seen before. That also has to do with my personality, I think. I am approachable, but at the same time, because of my many years in Government, I also felt that whenever I was shaking hands with someone, I had the responsibility to make that person know that they were shaking hands with St. Maarten.” She laughed admittingly though that it sometimes was indeed a challenge to find that sweet spot between her open personality and the diplomatic protocol that the job sometimes required.

  With the latest developments at Government level and new elections scheduled for January, Wuite completed her preparations to return to the island. She has already been written out of The Hague and written back into St. Maarten.

  “On the one hand I just started some things here that I will not be able to see fully through. So yes, I ain’t done yet. But I have faith that I will land right where I can continue working in the interest of St. Maarten. After my almost 20-year career as a high-level civil servant, I have been given the opportunity since 2018 to have a taste at politics. I have shaken off my style of sometimes being a technocrat. I was honoured and blessed to contribute to the further betterment of St. Maarten. And this time in a political position, at the level where the buck stops, which is what I truly embrace with a great sense of accountability. Now, I am happy to return to contribute further, because there is a lot of work left to do. We ain’t done yet.”

  She said that most importantly was that she would continue having fun doing what she does, as she has always done. “Every issue that I have to tackle in my personal and my professional life has got to be done with positivity. If you want to achieve success and book results, make sure you have fun and be committed with the team you work with.”

  She said that through her candidacy for the United Democrats she intends to help shape the political programme of the party. A programme, she says at the closing of our interview, that clearly supposed to contribute to the vital items that shape our island for tomorrow.

 

Wuite and Cabinet staff welcoming St. Maarten students.

Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/92760-jorien-wuite-we-ain-t-done-yet

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