Fifteen Years On, Saba balances progress and persistent challenges

GREAT BAY--In the new collection "𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦", marking 15 years since the constitutional reform of October 10, 2010, two of Saba’s most prominent voices, attorney Gerald Simmons-de Jong and former Island Governor/Senator Will Johnson, offer contrasting yet complementary reflections on what integration with the Netherlands has meant for the smallest of the Dutch Caribbean islands.

More than forty residents and professionals of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba contributed to the book and looked back on 15 years of the three islands since their intergration. The publication describes how the promises of 10 October 2010, that the inhabitants would benefit under Dutch rule, have not been fulfilled, according to many. The collection, compiled by Nina den Heyer (former member of the Provincial Executive of Bonaire) and René Zwart (DossierKoninkrijksrelaties.nl), was presented to interim Director-General of Kingdom Relations Gea van Craaikamp during a meeting last week of National Coordinator against Discrimination and Racism Rabin Baldewsingh.

Both Johnson and Simmons-de Jong agree that daily life on Saba has improved in significant ways since the transition, yet they also highlight long-standing frustrations about autonomy, priorities, and the balance between Dutch administration and local realities.

Gerald Simmons-de Jong: “It really is better, better, better”

Attorney Gerald Simmons-de Jong, founder of Saba’s only law firm, now also with a branch on Sint Maarten, describes 10-10-10 as a unique legal experiment: the dissolution of a country and the direct incorporation of a small island into the Netherlands as a special municipality.

That shift, he notes, created a growing legal gap between the three BES islands and the autonomous Caribbean countries within the Kingdom. Even so, expectations on Saba were high. Residents believed that joining the Netherlands would bring equality in healthcare, education, social services, connectivity, and legal protection.

“Across all these areas, things have advanced tremendously,” he says. The island’s hospital once operated with a limited local budget and had to choose between sending a patient abroad or paying civil-service salaries. Today, healthcare, legal access, and social protections have all improved. Saba now has its own court and notary, and his own law firm contributes to access to justice. Employers also benefit from better frameworks, such as compensation covering 80 percent of wages when an employee falls ill.

Still, Simmons-de Jong notes that the transition was not painless for small businesses. Under the former Netherlands Antilles, tax enforcement was minimal. After 10-10-10, enforcement began in earnest. The currency switched from the Antillean guilder to the U.S. dollar, creating heavy adjustments for family-run enterprises, not all of which survived.

Despite the difficulties, he concludes that prosperity and human-rights protections have expanded. “My husband and I married on Saba, something unthinkable before 10-10-10. Life is truly better.”

He believes, however, that the local government could achieve more if it focused less on complaint and more on long-term problem-solving. He also challenges the constant emphasis on how “different” Saba is from the European Netherlands. “People in Dutch villages also face major challenges and frustration with local officials. Many issues are universal. We should lobby for equality and equivalence, not difference.”

Simmons-de Jong points to banking access, transport costs, and education quality as urgent issues. Reliable banking services, affordable connections, and fresh food supply remain difficult. “A larger supermarket would be nice,” he admits, “but that’s part of island life.” Even so, he praises Saba’s small shops for maintaining diverse stock.

He concludes that solving key structural problems, banking, connectivity, access to legal services, and affordable goods, would bring Saba much closer to full equality. “Life here is already quite good. The people of Saba, whether native or from Colombia, Venezuela, the Philippines, or the Netherlands, are strong and resilient. Whatever the future brings, they will face it together.”

Will Johnson: “The interests of the people must carry more weight”

Former Island Governor and long-time political leader Will Johnson, who helped guide Saba through its constitutional transition, offers a historical account grounded in personal experience.

“I wouldn’t wish on anyone the task of running a country under such conditions,” he writes of the pre-2010 era. As finance commissioner, he oversaw an island budget of barely two million guilders. “We were part of one of the richest countries in the world but lived like a dying rat in a palace.”

Local government was responsible for healthcare, education, and nearly every public service except policing. Sending a single patient to Sint Maarten for medical care could cost 250,000 guilders, payable upfront. “No one should have to govern with such a budget,” he says.

Johnson recalls that Saba’s move toward direct ties with the Netherlands was deliberate. He initiated and presented the plan to the Island Council, leading to the 2004 referendum supported by the United Nations. Out of roughly 1,100 eligible voters, 666 voted for direct integration, about 100 to remain with the Netherlands Antilles. The referendum included youth from 16 and resident non-nationals. “The population was well-informed,” he writes.

Johnson does express disappointment with how land was handled for the creation of the Saba National Park. Privately owned land, he says, was taken without proper consultation. “You cannot just seize land to make a park,” he argues, noting that the local cadastre was non-functional at the time and that the expropriation law came later.

While daily life has improved since 10-10-10, Johnson believes that local interests should weigh more heavily in Dutch decision-making, particularly on development and real-estate policy. “The Netherlands still struggles to grasp that people on a rock like Saba have their own culture and long history of self-governance,” he writes.

He acknowledges clear financial progress and supports continued investment in healthcare, the elderly home, the airport, and the new harbor now under construction. The harbor, he says, will allow yachts to dock and fits Saba’s niche approach to tourism. What worries him more is over-building in The Bottom, the island’s main village, where runoff from heavy rain ends up in Fort Bay.

He also raises social issues. With rising car numbers and reckless motorbike use, he argues for tighter import limits and higher license-plate fees: “You can’t let a few spoil it for everyone.”

Johnson does not advocate a return to the Netherlands Antilles but calls for greater local autonomy within the current structure. “We have been treated fairly in budgets since 10-10-10, but the Netherlands must understand that the interests of local people should weigh more, not only in infrastructure, but in everyday life.”

Shared conviction

Both Simmons-de Jong and Johnson conclude that life on Saba is better than it was before 2010. The island enjoys more financial stability, stronger institutions, and better access to services. Yet both also urge reflection on equality, governance, and local empowerment.

Fifteen years after integration, their message is clear: Saba has advanced, but its future success depends on ensuring that the voices and needs of its people carry genuine weight in the decisions made both in The Bottom and in The Hague.