Oranjestad- Prominent member of the Democratic Party in Sint Eustatius says that he sees little reason for a celebration on the islands to bid farewell to Minister of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations, Ronald Plasterk.

“Looking back at the past four years, there is not much need for celebration. During the tenure of Mr. Plasterk, there has been very little progress in the development of the three public entities, Statia, Saba and Bonaire”, said Sneek in a press release today.

According to Sneek, very little follow-up has been given on agreements that have been made in the past with the three islands. Sneek says that the evaluation report from the committee Spies has been largely ignored. The same, according to Sneek, is true for the Ideeversa report on the so-called free allowance and the evaluation report commissioned by the minister himself.

According to Sneek, during Plasterk terms little has been done in other important areas for the islands. “For the full term of the minister nothing has been done to establish a minimum level of existence for the islands and a within The Netherlands acceptable level of services. This counts especially for the social economic area. As a result, hardly anything has been accomplished in eradication of poverty”, according to Sneek.

Sneek also says that even if he distances himself from the actions and rhetoric of the resent local government formed by the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) and independent councilman Merkman, he believes the the Dutch government has done very little to improve the situation on the island.

“I express my wish that the next minister will be one who has more eyes for our struggles and who is prepared, together with us, to improve the lives and living circumstances of our people”, according to the DP politician.