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the following lecture was presented by St. Maarten's governor Mr. Franklyn Richards, to members of the Rotary Club on June 3, 2009: Allow me to begin my remarks by expressing gratitude for your invitation through Mr. Michael Ferrier to address you once more. The last time I was able to do so was on April 23 of last year when I had the opportunity to elucidate on the topic of safety and security on St. Maarten. Today, I would like to share with you some thoughts on an issue which has as theme ‘Good Governance’.
It was 9 years ago that the population of St. Maarten voiced its preference to become a country within the kingdom of the Netherlands. Much has happened since that time and while time does not permit me to list all the agreements made within the framework of attaining country status – I care to mention the final declaration (slotverklaring) of November 2006, wherein agreements were reached with regards to a number of entities as related to the new status. Areas of interest mentioned in the document are among other those of: Investigation and prosecution of punishable acts Police Immigration Prisons Financial Management Supervision during the transition period Supervision in the new constitutional structure
Judging from the aforementioned list once can see that agreements made cover a wide variety of issues. St. Maarten is signatory to this final declaration and it is of course left up to the government of St. Maarten to live up to these agreements. Print media reports appearing in past months indicate that Dutch parliamentarians have been quite critical about St. Maarten becoming a country. Many of them are not yet convinced that St. Maarten is ready to function as country within the kingdom. One of the often heard statements is that while a lot has been achieved, on paper, there are serious reservations about the island’s readiness for country status. These signals coming mainly out of the Hague further strengthen my belief that we should do all possible to show decisively that St. Maarten is serious about good governance. Should the government of the island territory of St. Maarten show its commitment to being serious about good governance, this will undoubtedly send a strong signal to all that it would be able to handle its own affairs and function properly. As a result such will definitely have a positive impact on how the process towards country status is viewed within the kingdom. We are subsequently faced with having to address good governance issues of the going concern (island territory St. Maarten) and at the same time preparing to address those same issues of the future concern (Country St. Maarten). Good Governance should therefore be of high priority among concerns of the going concern as well as of the future concern. What does one mean by “Good Governance”? Much has been written and said about this topic and I wish, without having to reinvent the wheel, to quote excerpts from one of these reports, namely that of the United Nations “ESCAP” (the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) found on UN Website: www:unecap.org. In order to understand “Good Governance” one has to know the meaning of Governance. Governance means: the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). Good Governance Good governance has 8 major characteristics. It is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society. Participation Participation by both men and women is a key cornerstone of good governance. Participation could be either direct or through legitimate intermediate institutions or representatives. It is important to point out that representative democracy does not necessarily mean that the concerns of the most vulnerable in society would be taken into consideration in decision making. Participation needs to be informed and organized. This means freedom of association and expression on the one hand and an organized civil society on the other hand. Rule of law Good governance requires fair legal frameworks that are enforced impartially. It also requires full protection of human rights, particularly those of minorities. Impartial enforcement of laws requires an independent judiciary and an impartial and incorruptible police force. Transparency Transparency means that decisions taken and their enforcement are done in a manner that follows rules and regulations. It also means that information is freely available and directly accessible to those who will be affected by such decisions and their enforcement. It also means that enough information is provided and that it is provided in easily understandable forms and media. Responsiveness Good governance requires that institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe. Consensus oriented There are several actors and as many view points in a given society. Good governance requires mediation of the different interests in society to reach a broad consensus in society on what is in the best interest of the whole community and how this can be achieved. It also requires a broad and long-term perspective on what is needed for sustainable human development and how to achieve the goals of such development. This can only result from an understanding of the historical, cultural and social contexts of a given society or community. Equity and inclusiveness A society’s well being depends on ensuring that all its members feel that they have a stake in it and do not feel excluded from the mainstream of society. This requires all groups, but particularly the most vulnerable, have opportunities to improve or maintain their well being. Effectiveness and efficiency Good governance means that processes and institutions produce results that meet the needs of society while making the best use of resources at their disposal. The concept of efficiency in the context of good governance also covers the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the environment. Accountability Accountability is a key requirement of good governance. Not only governmental institutions but also the private sector and civil society organizations must be accountable to the public and to their institutional stakeholders. Who is accountable to whom varies depending on whether decisions or actions taken are internal or external to an organization or institution. In general an organization or an institution is accountable to those who will be affected by its decisions or actions. Accountability cannot be enforced without transparency and the rule of law. ‘Good governance’ entails that government of St. Maarten carries out policies in a democratic, just and systematic manner, delivering results which are in the general interest. We can speak of a just policy and just governance when government takes into consideration legally prescribed regulations and guidelines pertaining to good governance, such as the principles of good governance, principles of equality and principles of integrity.
What is important is the weighing of interests and division of policy processes, a clear separation of tasks, competencies and responsibilities between legislators and civil servants, checks and balances, in among others the form of transparency. Other aspects would be those of democratic accountability and a multi-year budget cycles subjected to an independent control. The citizen has a right to present his case to an independent body, if he is in disagreement with government. Here on St. Maarten, an ombudsman would do well; for country St. Maarten, the office of the ombudsman is listed. A proposal to establish an office of the ombudsman was presented in the island council but this proposal was never dealt with extensively. St. Maarten would do well while still an island territory (in the going concern) to handle such proposals in regard to giving context to good governance at this time. Another aspect in regard to good governance which I can mention is the implementation of the code of conduct for government members and civil servants. In one of the accords signed in the past and for which St. Maarten is co-signatory, mention is made of an integrity project with codes of conduct for government members and civil servants. In the past, I did expressly advocate such a code of conduct, presenting a proposal for such on January 10, 2003 to the central committee of the island council. The proposal entailed guidelines for incompatibility of functions, responsibilities other than those of government and business interests. This was a document for discussion and unfortunately no political decision was taken on the proposal. In a letter addressed to the Dutch second of the Staten-Generaal, secretary of state for kingdom relations, Ank Bijleveld, has among other expressed apprehension regarding the lack of checks and balances on St. Maarten. Next to the lack of an ombudsman and a code of conduct for government officials and civil servants, she also indicated that there is no proper supervision of the casinos on St. Maarten, in the form of a Gaming Control Board. The state secretary, in her letter, paints a picture of a St. Maarten which have made many plans but where there are not many results. St. Maarten would do well to take notice of this perception and to do more to change this picture. Just to give an idea of the essence of having “Good Governance” while governing, I would like to use as illustration of the widely acclaimed novel ‘Dubbelspel’ by the Curacao author Frank Martinus Arion. One of the key figures in the story is a bailiff named Manchi Sanantonio. Long before completing construction of his house, he had asked the executive council of Curacao to hard surface the street in front of his house. He was told that this would happen since he was an active member of the party in power. Eventually the house was completed but during that time new elections were held and a new executive council took office. To boycott Manchi, the road was not hard-surfaced. Manchi decided to limit his activities for his political party, hoping that maybe the road would still be hard surfaced, to no avail. When his party returned to power following early elections, behind his back he was accused of having joined the opposition with as result, that the street was not hard-surfaced. He, after that, secretly, gave his support to another party of which his wife was co-founder; that party failed. The end result was that his road had still not been hard surfaced. Thus he became politically neutral with distrust for all existing political parties. He hoped one day to come to power himself and then have the street hard surfaced. This story, taken from “Dubbelspel”, vividly illustrates how things should not be done! There’s also ‘Bad Governance’. An elucidation thereof can be found in the Court ruling of commissioner Laveist of April 28, 2009. In that ruling judge, Mr. H.A.C. Smid, stated: “Corruption (Bad Governance) damages everybody whose life, upkeep and happiness depends on the integrity of people holding positions of power”. The ruling further states “Corruption by officials can destroy a country or other governing entities”. Governing should benefit the general interest and not personal interest and that general interest does not necessarily always fall in line with the personal interest of the citizen! To recap: The realization of Good Governance should remain high on the priority list of government. Government should therefore give content to the principle of Good Governance. The aforementioned should be done via a transparent, democratic, responsible, effective and efficient manner of decision-making, which is honest and in accordance with the prevailing laws, where the interests of all concerned are taken into account and accountability is publicly given. If government decides to hard surface a road, based on general interest and on proper procedures, it should not have to matter if the composition of the Executive council changes or not. The citizen or citizens, to which this promise has been made, has to be able to trust and rely on government for its execution. Government ought to be able to take decisions not based on who something is promised to but based on the general interest; decisions by government cannot and should not be taken to spite or boycott a citizen or a group of citizens, for political reasons. Practicing -good- politics should mean addressing the general interest, which is quite different from personal interests. What I am talking about here are aspects such as objective dealing with the citizen, adequately reacting to requests of the citizen, providing the citizen with needed information, creating transparent procedures which government should also keep itself to, etc. Client friendliness should be safeguarded. After all, government works for the people and the citizen has a right to be approached correctly. Client friendliness should however not be confused with taking arbitrary decisions. Client friendliness can also be an opportunity to simplify procedures and avoiding unnecessary bureaucracy. As an example one can consider telephone accessibility and the correct responding to citizens’ enquiries.
Transparency is also of essence; transparency can be explained as having insight into how we are governed. Transparent procedures, transparent decision-making processes and a transparent control system lead to transparent government. A transparent financial framework is another area contributing to transparency overall. What constitutes to Good Governance as well is that within the framework of the final accord, it was agreed, among others, that financial supervision would be instituted for the Netherlands Antilles, Curacao and St. Maarten. This supervision in the transition period is meant to avoid that new debts are incurred that the financial situation gets even worse during this period; it is also meant to enable the new entities to begin with a sound financial position, once the new constitutional relationships take effect. Providing this supervision is the committee of financial supervision -- College Financieel Toezicht (CFT), which also supervises the BES-islands. This regulation took effect as of December 10, 2008 and stipulates, among others, to which norms, the island’s budget is subjected to. Mention is made, among others, how all expected expenditures and incomes are listed in the budget and that all incomes and expenditures come with a proper elucidation. The budget is thus subjected to a criteria entailing controllability. Main responsibilities for the committee on financial supervision include: - Supervision of the norms listed with regards to the budget and its preparation as well as the implementation and responsibility for payments. - Evaluation if the central government or island territories comply with stipulated regulations for loans with interests and debts with interests. - Reporting to and advising the Antillean Minister of Finance, the Antillean parliament, the executive and island councils concerned as well as the kingdom council of ministers. - Supervision on the progress of the implementation of the improvement on financial management. In the decision taken regarding the CFT, stipulations are also made that the governments would provide the committee with all information which is deemed necessary for the carrying out of its tasks. The committee thus has a right to see goods and documents and approach others for information. St. Maarten should, unconditionally live up to the agreements and norms and provide all cooperation enabling the CFT to do its work, based on correct information. This is another way in which transparency is favored. Ladies and Gentlemen: with the aforementioned illustrations I will not specifically claim that St. Maarten is doing too little to attain country status. Truth is that a lot is happening and in a relatively short period of time. But there is much more to do by the present organization (going concern) in order to now form a solid base for the country St. Maarten (Future Concern). It is of utmost importance that St. Maarten takes good governance seriously. Once we commit ourselves to this, we can look forward to reaping the fruits in the process of becoming a country. Sint Maarten has to work diligently on all fronts when it comes to having good governance in the ‘going concern’ for the ‘future concern’. The above mentioned particularly holds true also for the new Executive Council that will take office on June 8, 2009! I thank you for listening. End |
