Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
The choice for Person of the Year may surprise a few. After all, the integrity issue was a big story in St. Maarten in 2014, as were the parliamentary elections and their aftermath plus relations with the Netherlands, each linked in some way and resulting in the additional screening of candidates for the new Gumbs cabinet backed by a UP-led coalition, with five rather than seven ministers taking office in Philipsburg.
However, this newspaper serves both the Dutch and the French sides and they are very much interdependent communities that in practice form one population. It's no secret that the Northern half of the island has been facing difficult times for quite a while, from which businesses across the open border profited to a certain extent because of the exchange rate between the euro and the US dollar.
With the first careful signs of a recovery appearing it was considered opportune to recognise the plight of St. Martin's entrepreneurs who persisted and now hopefully will reap the fruits of their determination. If things pick up, this ultimately should benefit employers and workers alike.
In fact, society as a whole will be better off in the long run with a more balanced development, also taking into account that the island is seen as a single destination with a joint tourism economy. Taking care of the latter and ensuring further growth remains the absolute priority and only can be done most effectively together.
Happy New Year.
