Jean Marc Vermot de Boisrolin is that young St. Martiner who distinguished himself in August 2005 by initiating a conference on the development of St. Martin and the future of our youth. Organized at the Maison des Entreprises in Concordia, the conference aroused a lot of enthusiasm, particularly among the population and elected officials. But how have those same elected officials responded to all that enthusiasm, anticipation, and advice over the past 17 years? Where is St. Martin today? Our young graduate is now 42 years old. With his international experience in the finance and wealth management sector within his numerous companies in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, and South Africa, this international CEO has just returned from Asia and takes stock of the situation.
As an optimist by nature, I had hoped to start this article about our beautiful island on a positive note, but that would be a disguise to the truth and betray the trust of those who read me.
In my first public speech, in August 2005, I drew the attention of our elected representatives to the economic difficulties that our island would inevitably encounter in its transition from a commune to a collectivity. I especially highlighted our perilous lack of training, guidance, and support for young people to meet the challenges that confronted us.
Since then, despite the distance, I have followed closely the evolution of the island, intervening occasionally and hoping for a rebound. But today, alas, the extent of the situation far exceeds my most pessimistic projections. From one strike to the next, I have the impression that my St. Martin family no longer recognizes itself in its institutions, and fundamentally fails to comprehend the rationale for the huge budgets wasted on external consultancies which do not provide any tangible solutions.
Is it my role as a citizen to blame? To forget that there was IRMA, the global health crisis, and now the war in Ukraine, and their economic consequences that we are still paying for? To blame the State and its representative? Should I only attack the current administration and its President? Should I add my voice to the growing number who speak of authoritarian overreach, blind arrogance, and the primacy of ego?
I don't think so. Criticism though hindsight is always easy and scapegoating is often to exploit cynically realities that are far more complex than they might at first appear. Looking at the past as if we could change it does not add much to public debate. Stoking the fires of ideological conflict has never helped any nation to rise up and achieve the singular goals of self-improvement and unity of purpose.
But on the eve of elections, restraining the desire to point fingers directly does not prevent us from making observations. Observation is at least a starting point for progress without pointing out the individual failures of those responsible, without questioning the goodwill of all. We must focus on the methods, on the functioning of the institutions, the bodies, and their relationship with the field and the inhabitants. We must also take into account the context because our situation is not specific to our island, it also reflects the situation of France in all its complexity and also that of the world and the crises it is experiencing.
What is this observation that I want to talk to you about?
Our economy, has not been able to adapt to its administrative transition, to the challenges of IRMA, to the health crisis, or simply to the island's particularity. What a disaster!
My experience, my businesses, my travels around the world have shown me how rocks become a thriving country, how deserts become world-famous attractions, how islands far surpass large countries in the well-being of their citizens.
Today, many destroyed businesses are still closed and no exceptional policies have been put in place to facilitate the restart of our economy, which despite some sporadic aid, remains on its knees. On the contrary, our administrations, like the State, have persisted in using old methods to face new challenges. Businesses are drowning in administrative imbroglio; investors are discouraged by the rigidity of the management of public affairs, which is mechanical, almost robotic; promoters of creative projects are astonished to see that there is no room for adaptability or innovation to make our economy flourish.
Worse, local authorities and the State are at odds over something as vital as the reconstruction of our island. Businesses are refused, building permits are canceled or blocked, and the PPRN looks more and more like a “Plan about Parisian Reflexion for all Nation”, far from our economic, social, and environmental reality. This does not prevent us, of course, from welcoming the State representative Vincent Berton and thanking his predecessor, Mr. Serge Gouteyron, for his services to the island.
Purchasing power, in free fall, to the point of putting the elderly in difficulty and extreme poverty. According to Pôle Emploi figures published by the prefecture, twice as many senior citizens over 50 years old are now looking for a job as at the beginning of 2012. Where is our dignity if we do not take care of our elderly if we leave them in misery as if we owed them nothing? The fall in purchasing power affects not only the poor but also the middle classes, while our island has all the capacities for its population to live comfortably.
Unemployment, now endemic, which, despite a recent contraction, has continued to grow over the last ten years and has reached record levels in 2021. Is it conceivable that entire neighborhoods have up to 70% unemployment? We are talking about our island, which is supposed to be in a developed country!
Poverty, is gaining more and more ground, bringing entire families to their knees and offering the world a spectacle of misery and desolation. Can we speak of solidarity, of fraternity when half of our island is poor?
Insecurity, constantly increasing, endangering our fellow citizens and tourism, which is a vital income for our island. The lack of firmness, a moribund and sclerotic judicial process, our young people plunged into mass unemployment, are some of the ingredients that fuel thefts, aggressions, the consumption and sale of drugs... If we do not hurry up to offer a future to our young people, we can only expect a calamitous future.
Education, with almost 50% of our population without any diploma. How are we going to develop our island without the necessary and indispensable skills? Are we eternally going to call on the outside world to manage our administrations? Our companies? Our schools? Our security? Our institutions? All external skills are welcome, but we must also participate ourselves at the highest levels of responsibility. I was already denouncing our shortcomings in 2005 and they are cruelly felt today. We have to admit that we have let our young people down.
Living together: I am one of those who believe that all people should be treated equally, regardless of their origin, colour, religion, belief, or sexual orientation. It is the deeply hospitable nature of the people of St. Martin that has made our island an attractive place to live, "The Friendly Island". I can of course understand, among some people and in all communities, a certain withdrawal into oneself, as our population has grown from 8,000 to over 35,000 in just four decades. But the rejection of the “other” is deadly. It only fuels rancour and hatred at all levels, including the political. At the moment, it is even fertile ground for some populists who claim to have access to the highest offices of the State. The repulsive face of a fractured community is not ours. St. Martin was built on the values of fraternity and openness to the world handed down by our elders. It is up to us, today's St. Martiners, to reaffirm this identity, to display it proudly, to cultivate it with force, and above all to share it with fervor.
Sustainable development: This is so clearly lagging behind, whereas we could make our island an example by giving nature its rightful place with all that it has to offer: clean energy, quality of life, beauty, rich and prosperous land that we must all protect for future generations. Billions of Euros are being invested by the State and Europe in this area, and our island must receive its full share.
This is what I want to talk to you about today. I admit that my observations are harsh. It’s tough love. For I love our island, with unconditional love, anchored in the depths of my being. To leave in order to come back better has always been my motto. There is no way I could stay far away, in comfort, as an indifferent and selfish spectator of this visible, slow decay.
“A civilization that proves incapable of solving the problems that arise from its functioning is a decadent civilization. A civilization that chooses to turn a blind eye to its most crucial problems is a damaged civilization. A civilization that plays tricks with its principles is a moribund civilization", said Aimé Césaire.
I want to end on a note of hope: I say it with conviction, with certainty, I believe in the resilience of our island, in our residents, in our open-mindedness, in our capacity to face the worst and to adapt to any situation, in our nerves of steel that no storm, no crisis, no institution will be able to constrain.
It is time to lift up Saint Martin and everyone must do their part in the common effort. I will do mine. I will stand with the stakeholders, the politicians, and those who are open to it. I will share my thoughts on all levels, economic, social, political, and environmental... I will take part in the debate and in the reconstruction without any ideological a priori because I have only one doctrine, one interest, one party: Saint Martin.
Unemployment source:
https://guadeloupe.deets.gouv.fr/sites/guadeloupe.deets.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/defm_saint-martin_2021_t4.pdf
