Owning 1,200

When Minister of VROMI Patrice Gumbs announced a new National Housing Policy with a target of 1,200 homes in ten years, he attached a number to his name, and to the expectations of a public that has heard round figures before.

Over the years St. Maarten has been told to expect 400 homes, then 600, then 800. Each time, the promise itself became the headline. Each time, the people were left holding the number while very little concrete appeared in front of them. Now the figure is 1,200. The Minister has lined himself up for a university level exam.

The minister will likely not be in office for the entire ten year period. That is the political reality of any long term policy. So his job is twofold. He has to deliver visible progress in the short and medium term, and he has to build a framework that can survive his departure. Yes circumstances on the ground in five or ten years will be different and a serious policy allows for adaptation, but it does not allow for erasure.

St. Maarten is not dealing with a minor housing inconvenience. We are dealing with a long standing shortage of affordable, secure, and decent housing for ordinary people. Rents are high. Land is limited. Wages have not kept pace with the cost of living. This is why “1200 homes in 10 years” cannot be treated as just another round figure.  

The minister also needs to understand that he is governing at the tail end of a long chain of unkept promises. The public memory is not as short as some would like to believe. There is very little patience left for another failure on this scale. By the time this term ends, residents should be able to point to specific families whose housing situation has changed because of this policy.

One hundred and twenty homes a year, across different income bands and types of development, is ambitious but not unrealistic if the will, due diligence, and follow through are present. St. Maarten has managed large and complex projects when there was enough pressure and enough organization. The question is whether we are prepared to apply that same level of seriousness to housing for residents, not just to infrastructure that supports visitors.

For once, major projects need to benefit the people directly, not only indirectly. New hotels and the like all have their place in an economy built on tourism. But a country cannot live on indirect benefits alone. That logic has already been stretched to the breaking point. Direct benefit looks like a realistic opportunity at home ownership and/or secure tenancy with reasonable rent or mortgage payments, and a sense that your family’s basic shelter is not at constant risk.

So what does that mean for the minister now? In short, the minister now owns 1,200. He owns it politically, and he owns it morally. If he treats it as a serious obligation to current and future residents, he has a chance to shift the narrative of using nice round numbers in an attempt to advance political ambitions, only never to deliver.

The choice is his. Make 1,200 memorable, not infamous.

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