Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Transition Accord Signed and Slated for December 15, 2008 for K3 and St. Maarten

In an agreement signed Monday, February 12, 2007, the target date for the new relations in the Kingdom of the Netherlands has been set for December 15, 2008, traditionally celebrated as Kingdom Day, and also the date the original charter for the Netherlands Antilles was signed.  If all goes as planned, Bonaire, Saba, and St. Eustatius will become overseas municipalities, while St. Maarten will receive country status.

To this end, The Netherlands is making available more than one billion Antillean guilders (USD $560,000,000) for financial support for the Netherlands Antilles, St. Maarten, Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius, of which a good portion will be set aside for debt relief, social and economic investments, and other budgetary aid.

Minister of Kingdom Relations and Administrative Reform Atzo Nicolaï also said that this aid was strictly in addition to other current monetary agreements, and should be viewed as separate from other funds, such as the Implementing Office of the Development Foundation Netherlands Antilles USONA.

The transition accord doesn’t mention Curaçao, as that island territory hasn’t ratified the November 2 accord with the Netherlands. As a result, Curaçao attended Monday’s meeting as observer.  (Source:  The Daily Herald)