PHILIPSBURG--"We have undone ourselves of the classification of island territory. We are not a marked territory belonging to a bigger unit any longer. We are willing partners in a political constellation called the Dutch Kingdom," said Democratic Party leader Sarah Wescot-Williams in a recorded statement on the outcome of the final Round Table Conference (RTC) on Thursday.
That meeting ratified the date 10-10-10 for the attainment of country status for St. Maarten and Curaçao.
"This feat is, in my opinion, no less than the charter declaration of 1954. Now suddenly, 10 years ago seems like only yesterday, as scenes of the process flash by," the former constitutional affairs commissioner said in her statement.
"We stood our ground. We did not know where it would end when we started, but we knew we would not give up, could not give up. No one ever said it would be easy, but no one really knew the resilience of the St. Maarten people and those called to lead them," Wescot-Williams said.
"I thank the people of St. Maarten for their confidence and critique. What do we do with ourselves now? Now, the work has started. On the horizon remains my conviction that this status of country within the Kingdom is a means, not an end," she added. "We have a country to build, a people to unite and a government to establish."
The island territory is now at another station in its development, the DP leader said. "At this station, we have to build our country, starting at the very foundation. The future of our nation will fall or stand with the foundation we provide today – with the way we lead our country, the examples we set for our youth and the images we portray to the world around us.
"After 10 years of hard work, incessant travels, feats and defeats, delegation members from St. Maarten need to mentally adjust themselves, now that this process is over. The relief of a major accomplishment is, however, short-lived. For all, the sights and minds are now set on the job ahead," she said.
"I remember the RTC of December 2008, and the recognition that there was no turning back. I remember the meetings, some that went on for longer than 24 hours on a stretch. I see the faces – tired, happy, disappointed – people who came and went.
"I still hear the reproaches levelled at St. Maarten, but also the acknowledgments of the efforts by St. Maarten to fulfil the promise of constitutional change to the people of St. Maarten. I remember the times when compromise seemed to the detriment of the St. Maarten people and we refused to budge. For years, we lead the charge of constitutional change.
"And regardless of what we were sometimes accused of, one thing is certain, we commanded the respect of all in the Dutch Kingdom. Maybe the criticism is somewhat justified that I did all of this to the detriment of other developments on our island, and of other areas that needed my attention as well. Maybe I left too much of what else was to be done up to others.
"But after having been part of St. Maarten's renewed attempts at constitutional change in the late eighties, when St. Maarten went in search of full independence, in the mid-nineties, when attempts to restructure the Netherlands Antilles failed, it was clear that we needed to complete this process once and for all," she said.
