We are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Territorial Collectivity of Saint-Martin!

President Daniel Gibbs received his guests on Friday July 14, to celebrate the 10 years of existence of the Community of Saint-Martin. A retrospective film was presented to retrace the 10 years since the new status.

Speech by Mr. Daniel Gibbs:

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Someone is missing 'one of us this morning. And this absentee, who leaves a big void and a good number of Saint-Martin residents orphaned, is Aline Hanson. I would like to dedicate the following film, my remarks and the celebrations organized this weekend for the tenth anniversary of our Community, to the memory of Madam President.
I would also like to spare a thought for our friend and colleague Mr Pierre Brangé, a close connoisseur of our status, still hospitalized in the Paris region and whose state of health remains very fragile. I am all the more moved because at the time the Mayor had entrusted Pierre, then a young lawyer, and me, a young elected official, with monitoring the work on the development of our new statute.
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br />Ladies and Gentlemen, the young Overseas Community of Saint-Martin is celebrating its tenth anniversary.
A step back: on December 7, 2003, by 76.3% of the votes cast, we were, in the in the wake of Saint-Barthélemy and under the leadership of Mayor Albert Fleming, the choice of an original status: that of an Overseas Community governed by article 74 of the Constitution.
The disgruntled and the doubters are then counted on the fingers of the hand. The time was then for the unity of the political class and an unprecedented emulation surrounded the work for the development of a territory that we would, all together, be able to think, shape, reinvent, and of a status to the map closer to our realities, our issues, our specificities.
Finally, Saint-Martin would find an institutional and legal balance perfectly suited to this particular identity which makes us proud! Finally, the people of Saint-Martin would have the means to make their unique voice heard and to defend their own interests within the Republic!
And everything would be fine, since the State was committed to supporting our statutory development and that it guaranteed us fair compensation for the transfers of the expanded skills that we were going to inherit.
It is therefore confident – ​​perhaps a little naive, I agree – that in 2007, there are 10 years ago, we were entering a new era, in a territory whose future promised to be more lenient, more prosperous and clearer.
It was 10 years ago…
The institutional stability that was necessary for our economic development today seems like a missed opportunity.
I will spare you the often painful tracking shot of the chaotic decade that we have just gone through: you, me, all of us, have been the ones actors and witnesses.
A simple observation: hope was followed by disenchantment.
I ask the question, in light of what we have been through for 10 years: what if we had to do it again?
Perhaps then, it would be the supporters of 74 who would count themselves on the fingers of the hand.
Well, I will be one of them.
And even if it means looking like a Don Quixote, I tell you: I remain a fervent defender of the 74. I believe in 74. I remain convinced that this formidable toolbox that is our statute remains the right choice for Saint-Martin.
That it is equipped with instructions for use that are certainly a little shaky, sometimes illegible, often incomplete, but as diligent craftsmen, as conscientious managers, as enlightened citizens, we will be able to make it function fully, to ensure the development to which Saint-Martin residents are entitled, and to Saint-Martin the attractiveness and the influence to which it can and must aspire.
The difficulties, the obstacles, the setbacks suffered since its advent by our Community, hit by the crisis - by the economic, political, social crises - must not make us forget this period of hope and emulation which preceded the accession to our new status.
I invite everyone to revive this fruitful period: there is no inevitability to the difficulties we experience today ; our multiple problems will not find their resolution in a wait-and-see attitude.
They will be resolved through work, hard work, collective work to defend our specificities, to make our voice heard and fully respected within the Nation. It is together that we will build a future of development for our island.
It is on this message, I believe, that the new majority that I have the honor of leading for a quarter has been very largely elected. And yes, the challenges awaiting us are numerous.
As first deputy for Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin, I had the opportunity to lead a parliamentary information mission on our Community 3 years ago . The observation and the proposals that I made then remain relevant in my view: we need to strengthen the coherence of our governance and the participation of civil society; but also improve collaboration between the State and our Community, particularly in the area of ​​taxation, better fight against the scourge of delinquency, rethink our regional integration by re-examining our role within the European Union or even establish cooperation worthy of this name with Sint Maarten. These are some of the many challenges that await us. But we are ready.
We, the people of Saint-Martin, must live up to the demands imposed by our status as an Overseas Community. By ceasing, for example, as I spoke about earlier, to operate according to a plan, benchmarks and municipal codes. By taking on our responsibilities, and they are numerous.