Oranjestad, St. Eustatius- The Democratic Party on St. Eustatius believes that the small scale of the island will always be a challenge and that, therefore, true autonomy is out of reach.

DP Party Leader Adelka Spanner said that in her meeting with Knops, the issue of (more) autonomy for the island was also addressed. According to Spanner, Knops indicated that Statia cannot carry an autonomous status. “State Secretary Knops pointed out that even the bigger countries like Aruba, Curacao and St. Maarten which have so much more inhabitants, are having so many problems and Statia only have about 4000 inhabitants”.

Improvement

“As we continue to build a better more developed Statia we of the Democratic Party are conscious of our real challenges brought about by our small scale and size. It is my view that our time and energy is better spent focusing on improving our living conditions, lives, and livelihood of our citizens”, according to Spanner in a press statement.

Spanner said it would be a pity if ten years from now we look back upon this day and conclude that development opportunities for Statia has been missed because of what she called ‘ongoing differences or disputes’.

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