Dutch Caribbean islands Curacao, St Maarten to be autonomous

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Friday November 3, 2006

The Hague- Curacao and St Maarten, two Caribbean islands under Dutch control, are to gain autonomous status that will result in the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in July next year, according to an agreement announced in The Hague late Thursday. Curacao, which lies off the coast of Venezuela, and St Maarten, which lies 900 kilometres to the north-east in the Leeward Islands, will remain part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Last month agreement was reached that the three other islands of the Netherlands Antilles - Bonaire, which is near Curacao, and St Eustatius and Saba, near St Maarten - would receive special status within the Netherlands.

In 1986, another island, Aruba, off the Venezuelan coast, gained autonomy, termed "status apart."

The precise status of the Caribbean remnants of the Dutch colonial empire has been a point of controversy among the islands and with the mother country for years.

Among the points of difference resolved over recent days in talks in The Hague were finances and authority over police and the courts.

The Dutch government is to take over the islands' debts amounting to 2.3 billion euros (2.9 billion dollars). In return the two islands have agreed to binding rules on how they conduct their finances. Curacao and St Maarten will share a central bank.

The courts, the prosecution service and the police will come under the control of the Dutch government, with the island governments allowed a say in how they are run.

Both sides spoke of "difficult negotiations."

The prime minister of the Netherlands Antilles, Emily de Jongh-Elhage, said: "This means action on the debt problem that has always stood in the way of the wellbeing of our citizens."

The new dispensation is to take effect from July 1 next year.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency