Dear Editor,
The last couple of months the ongoing developments surrounding the National Development Plan frequently appeared in the news, the latest related topic being the completion of the Democratic Dialogue Course by over forty participants (we are proud to say that two of our board members signed up for this course and completed it successfully). Some news items were press releases other being observations by news reporters or even TV and radio appearances of the NDP team. However, there were also several open letters sent to the local media as to where "Sint Maarteners" stand, who a "Sint Maartener" is and who contributed what to Sint Maarten.
Soualiga Social Movement is firmly supporting the idea of a National Development Plan with a bottom-up approach. The key words of what Soualiga Social Movement stands for are Awareness, Inclusion and Participation. Inclusion and Participation fall within the philosophy of a bottom-up approach of the National Development Plan. This means that all stakeholders (public, private, civil) need to be included and are expected to participate in the process of defining and determining the future of Sint Maarten.
Having stated the aforementioned, it sounds like a walk in the park: get everybody together on specific topics like education, environment, safety, health, economy, youth etc and let the majority determine the course for our future in a democratic way. Nothing can be further from the truth. Besides the lack of information provided to the entire population, the lack of awareness on specific issues in the community, the lack of experience and the lack of expertise there is another very important topic that needs to be addressed: What is Sint Maarten?
There has been much discussion within our community about who is a Sint Maartener. We are not saying that that debate should not continue, but we are of the opinion that we first of all should get to understand and acknowledge the culture and heritage of Sint Maarten, that should be the basis for any future discussion. What can be considered our music, food, twang, dance, art-forms etc? What entails our history and what are the physical remains of that history? The answer to those questions will give you the heart and soul of Sint Maarten/Saint Martin, Soualiga, Land of Salt. THAT is the core of our being. THAT is who we are. Each and every positive contribution from the "born-here" and "born-to-be-here" is a welcome added value, but it is exactly that: added.
So, in closing we can say that in order to move forward you need to know where you come from and where you are at the moment. Let's all (born-here and born-to-be-here) participate in the National Development Plan and create a future for our beautiful country without losing the identity of Sint Maarten, because that should be our point of departure. #sxmmovement
SOUALIGA SOCIAL MOVEMENT