Robert DuBourcq

~ Mixed emotions ~

By Michael R. Granger

For Robert DuBourcq, the passionate hotel and hospitality mainstay who has called St. Maarten home for the past four decades, the reality of St. Maarten becoming a country on October 10, 2010, is a bag of mixed emotions.

At some point in DuBourcq’s daily life, he manages to feel some excitement about the colourfully themed, yet historic date of 10-10-10. More often than not, however, he shares the same concerns of many people on St. Maarten about country status, in particular with the lack of available information. “I am not quite sure how anything will work,” he says.

In fact, he says he often questions if country status is actually what he voted for in the referendum of 2000. With the struggles to get legislation passed and/or tasks in place, coupled with the political back and forth and nuances of constitutional change, DuBourcq second-guesses his choice.

“My original referendum vote was based on the premise that I wanted us to be away from Curaçao. However, I realise that I didn’t understand the consequences of us becoming a country. I recently went back to the original document to see if that was indeed what I voted for. I found out that it stated very clearly, that the choice was to become a country,” he said.

“Personally I chose to break away from Curaçao because I felt that St. Maarten was being short changed and, from a basic logistical point of view, human nature usually leads you to think that they are there and we are here,” he said, referring to Curaçao and St. Maarten being separated by hundreds of miles which consequently results in little being done for St. Maarten.

“You automatically take care of yourself first. But the reality is that now we get to see if that was really true. Our financial people have to study if the income we will generate can sustain us when we assume these tasks, services and jobs from the Central Government. I guess that exercise should have been done before the 2000 referendum,” he added with a smile.

DuBourcq noted that he and the rest of the population for that matter “don’t know the whole story.” He added, “Although from what I’ve seen for the 40 years I’m here, we rarely ever know the entire project of any subject. Then lack of information means we know very little and are quick to make assumptions.”

His scepticism starts with the Dutch side of St. Maarten being a very small island mass (16 square miles) once country status is obtained. He opined that the island and its representatives must always be cognizant that as “country,” St. Maarten is and always will be an island, or the smaller half of an island.

Even if this smaller half has the busiest airport and harbour facility in the region, the island, he said, has its limitations and, in terms of future development, these limitations must always come into play, in particular, when it comes to safeguarding the environment.

“So I am concerned in that sense. I am not comfortable with the amount of information we are getting. I attended presentations some years ago, but they haven’t happened in the last two years, the most crucial times. We (as a member of the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association) have tried to inform our membership with various information sessions with government people,” he said.

“Timely information is of course what we call transparency, but if we don’t get it, what can we do about it? It’s up to a number of people who have been managing the process to do their job and inform us,” he added.

DuBourcq hopes everyone realises by now that St. Maarten will by no means be fully ready by 10-10-10. “However, I do take comfort in the fact that Holland will work with us for two years until we have everything in place and perhaps another two years after that if required. At least it’s not with Curaçao. We will have the full attention of a developed country (Holland),” he said.

In this context, DuBourcq said many people are equating Dutch assistance in the build-up of country St. Maarten as “the return of colonialism,” a frame of mind that he dismisses with a firm “well, so be it.”

“Colonialism is a word that makes everyone think of the olden days and those times. But if you talk to some islands that are still dependencies, they have no real issues with it from a guaranteed assistance perspective,” he said.

St. Maarten could use all the help it could get, he said, considering “that (Commissioner of Finance) Blackman is probably getting surprised by a lot of things he never thought about.”

“It’s like when you’re putting furniture in your new house. You look at the kitchen and say, ‘Great we have the kitchen,’ the same with the bedroom. Then you realise you have another smaller room to furnish and other things to consider to make the house liveable. It can tend to blow up,” he said.

He goes on to observe that payment for the new services will come down to increased or new taxes. He questioned how creative the elected representatives can be in coming up with alternative ways to generate revenue, but added that taxes are probably a forgone conclusion. “I’m sure there are other alternatives than raising taxes and, if that’s the case, we need the economic knowledge in place to study and indicate if the chain reaction would be a negative one. With an increase in taxes, people tend to spend less, which affects everything negatively. So we need the expertise in place before any increase in taxes,” he said.

In terms of the tourism sector, he added, here too caution must be the call of the day for country St. Maarten. There has been talk of condo fees, extra head tax on cruise visitors and the like, initiatives which are not unique to the Caribbean. However, with St. Maarten’s one-pillar economy, DuBourcq stressed that taxing the industry should be carefully considered.

“We of course are still heavily dependant on the United States. As they go, so goes St. Maarten. The economy in the world and in the US is still not stable, so we have to be careful about further burdening hotel expenses. I can predict that from now until the peak of the season in early 2011 will be very tough,” he said.

Personally though, while he is concerned, DuBourcq said he wouldn’t go as far as saying he is overly worried about the future of the island. He said there are numbers of issues that threaten the viability of a country, including but not limited to crime, environment management and sound economic initiatives and he hopes that the right balance could be found to ensure that the island excels in each area.

He plans on being part of country St. Maarten at least for the foreseeable future. “Some people are saying that before St. Maarten becomes a country, they are going to leave, others are excited and want to stay. For me personally, it’s not a matter of 10-10-10, it’s just that when you’re getting older, you have to make certain preparations. Eventually I will retire and return to Holland which is just coincidental at this point in my life. I have a daughter and my grandchildren who will stay here. Right now with St. Maarten, you really don’t know how anything will evolve. We just hope for the best,” he concluded.