The Executive Council, via letter, informed the Minister of Culture Ms. Omayra Leeflang that St. Maarten has decided to seek the return of the artifacts at the earliest opportunity via the Dutch Naval vessel "Pelikaan". The artifacts are currently at the National Archeological and Anthropological Museum on Curacao (NAAM).
Once back on St. Maarten, the registration of the returned material can then be done here with the cooperation of the St. Maarten Museum and the St. Maarten Archeological Center (SIMARC).
"St. Maarten participated in a meeting in March of this year on Curacao organized by NAAM where focus was placed on the implications the constitutional changes of all of the islands will have on the management of the cultural resources of the Netherlands Antilles and in particular on the cultural heritage of the individual islands," Buncamper-Molanus said.
"There were several points of views exchanged on issues such as sharing of knowledge, educational projects and archeological research between the islands. The one thing I believe which was made clear was that historical artifacts belonging to the islands that were shipped to Curacao at some point in time in the past, should be returned to the island. I am extremely pleased that our artifacts will soon be back home where our people and most importantly our children can study, learn, embrace, respect and own significant parts of their history," the Commissioner added.
The artifacts that will be returned were identified by Dr. Jay Haviser of SIMARC at the NAAM facility. They include: artifacts from Cupecoy Bay and Hope Estate, several from Fort Amsterdam including 1 cannon and 1 cannon carriage with two wheel sets, and general surveys of St. Maarten (Belvedere and other areas).
