Policy­makers in The Hague and administrators from Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba must jointly develop a clear plan for the so-called physi­cal living environment, encompassing the infra­structure, buildings and nature in the Caribbean Netherlands, and this is absolutely essential to address the backlog in this area.

Jan Jacob van Dijk, chairman of the Council for the Living Environ­ment and Infrastructure RLI, made this state­ment earlier this week in the Dutch Second Chamber of Parliament.

Earlier this year, RliI, a leading advisory body for the Dutch govern­ment, investigated the differences between the European and Caribbe­an Netherlands in terms of the living environ­ment.

In its report “Together to Better”, the council concluded that the Caribbean Netherlands
is often overlooked in government plans for the living environment, resulting in disadvantages. At the request of the Second Chamber’s Committee for Kingdom Relations, the council provided an explanation of that report.

According to Van Dijk, the three islands want The Hague to listen to them seriously and in­vest time and energy in the islands. The various ministries, in turn, are struggling to understand why agreed-on plans are not being implement­ed. Nine times out of ten, this concerns plans and ambitions devised for the islands in The Hague, Van Dijk said.

“That led to our rec­ommendation to create a common agenda for what needs to happen with the physical domain until 2050. Set priorities and secure some fund­ing. If you do that, you’ll encounter fewer prob­lems,” said Van Dijk.

Ministries should also recognise that the is­lands’ local governments have responsibilities that municipalities in the Eu­ropean Netherlands do not. “That means the na­tional government needs to step in and take on these tasks,” he said.

The council also noted that little attention is paid to the comply-or-­explain principle. The comply policy in the European Netherlands should also apply in the Caribbean Netherlands, unless there is a good reason with an explana­tion to deviate from it. A good explanation is rarely provided when it comes to infrastructure policy.

“It’s often just one or two lines in the explana­tory notes without a clear explanation of why there’s a deviation,” he said.

According to PVV Member of Parliament (MP) Peter van Haasen, state secretaries almost never provide a proper explanation of why cer­tain policies are or are not applied in the Carib­bean Netherlands.

“When I asked why an exception was made, it could not be explained,” he said.

Christian Union MP Don Ceder mentioned the risk of legal conse­quences if The Hague consistently deviates
from the Caribbean Netherlands’ policy.

“It is strange when the government builds a possibility into its own regulations to devi­ate from them. In my opinion, a government should, by definition, protect compliance with its own rules,” he said. MPs also had questions about the report’s rec­ommendations.

NSC MP Olger van Dijk and WD MP Aukje de Vries enquired about collaboration with prov­inces and municipalities as a solution to capacity problems. De Vries also raised concerns about an opt-in mechanism, an option for the islands to indicate which policy components they de­sired.

“I am afraid people want the ‘sweet’ but not the ‘sour’. It has to be a balance. How does that work in practice?” she asked.

The meeting with RLI served as preparation for the Second Chamber debate on developments in the Caribbean Neth­erlands today, Thursday. Caretaker Dutch State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Eddie van Marum will be present at the meeting.

The Daily Herald.