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In her official New Year's address, Government Commissioner Alida Francis of St. Eustatius is wishing all of her fellow Statians a healthy, safe, and happy New Year. In her statement, she emphasizes the importance of working together, caring for each other, and not being afraid to follow dreams after what can only be described as a long and tumultuous year, only to conclude that Statia is still standing!
New beginnings
Francis' message for the new year is one of positivity and hope. Naturally, the global COVID-19 pandemic is given a prominent spot at the start of her address, as the virus disrupted daily life on the island in an unprecedented way, just like it has in the rest of the world. And even though the end of this global health crisis is not yet in sight, she references the confidence and resilience of the Statian people in the face of such adversity. “While the pandemic stretched and bent us, it certainly did not break us”, she writes, “Yes, my people, thanks to you, Statia is still standing”.
For the new year, Francis encourages the people of St.Eustatius to learn, to live, and to discover strengths and abilities that push them to heights they would have never hoped of reaching in the past. To be good and to do good, for themselves, but also for their families, their friends, and their country. With 35 active coronavirus cases on the island on January 1st and no end in sight for the moment, Francis takes the opportunity as well to wish those patients and their loved ones well in a battle that in the end is a battle of all Statians, infected or not. As she puts it so aptly herself, “Our success depends on everyone taking responsibility by respecting the measures that are in place until January 14th, 2022. Your success is our success”.
More than a pandemic year
Naturally, Francis also focuses on the many positive developments on Statia in the face of adversity. She mentions important infrastructural projects such as the nationally funded airport and roads, the initiative to light public spaces, and the renovation of government offices. That includes the more than 500 new courses for training civil servants that are now offered by Statia Academy.
She also proudly applauds the improvements in socio-environmental areas such as the cleaning of illegal dumpsites, the removal of dangerous ship wrecks, and the drilling of new wells to support local farmers. There is a special mention for the completion of the 11th EDF underground cabling and accessories with the goal of stabilizing the electricity grid on Statia. Thanks to this hard work, the people of St. Eustatius now have continuous access to stable power, even in extreme weather conditions such as heavy rains and thunderstorms.
Power to local businesses
New construction, both private and public, new local start-ups, local farmers and fishermen steadily supplying the Statian market despite the circumstances, and those are just a few examples of how Statian entrepreneurship thrived in the middle of a crisis. As a popular holiday destination, global travel restrictions heavily impacted the Statian tourism and hospitality sector. This was partly compensated by the Statian people though, who opted much more often for a holiday at home. “What a vote of confidence in ourselves!”, states Francis. This resilience, together with the economic support packages from the Dutch Central Government considerably softened the COVID-19 blow.
Ending with a few words of hope
Despite the many challenges and difficulties, 2021 brought St. Eustatius plenty of positives as well. As a small Caribbean island nation within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Statian people were more than over forced to be strong, to be creative, and to be work together for the good of all. “It's of paramount importance that we pause and give attention to the way we treat each other and address each other. As we ring out the old and ring in the new, there is fresh promise to usher in a new approach to working together as one and amplify our collective power”, says Francis as she ends her New Year's address.
And she is right, because only together can the people of St. Eustatius and naturally the rest of the Dutch Caribbean and the European Netherlands meet, and more importantly overcome, the challenges that 2022 will undoubtedly place on our paths.
In the footsteps of Lady Alida Francis, the team at Future Islands would like to take this opportunity to wish the valiant people of Statia and the rest of the Dutch Caribbean a very happy and very healthy 2022!
The basis for this article was originally published on www.dossierkoninkrijksrelaties.nl on January 1st, 2022.
