Since the administration of Prime Minister Mrs. Evelyn Wever Croes announced a hotel project for the Seroe Colorado area of San Nicolas respectively the Minister of Infrastructure Otmar Oduber and his colleague Minister of Tourism Danqui Oduber, it seems like all hell broke loose from the Aruban establishment. For the ones like myself who was practically born and bred in this area of Aruba it is totally unacceptable the attitude of some fellow Arubans. San Nicolas is the most undeveloped area since 1986 and is known for legal prostitution. I must say to a certain extend unregulated, a penitentiary and in general very economically depressed for the most part. Once even the national waste plant operation was to be operated from this area.
San Nicolas was a primitive town just like the rest of the tiny Caribbean island called Aruba before the turn of the twentieth century with the establishment of the Lago Oil and Transport Company LTD in 1924 this all became history. Aruba since then have become one of the most affluent Caribbean islands and after its Autonomous Status in the Dutch Kingdom in 1986 it enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the region. The oil industry took on many challenges as geopolitics evolves and Aruba went into the Tourism industry that is very successful and is currently its only economic pillar. The island enjoys a pretty good public educational system and higher education can be achieved in the Netherlands or even the United States of America, lovely beaches and great weather year round and is outside of the hurricane belt. Many high-end hotel chains are located here, but the economic boost is limited to one area of Aruba which is the Southwestern side. Many politicians have come and gone promising to uplift San Nicolas out of its primitive state and incorporate the district into the general wellbeing and progress of the Aruban territory but to no avail all have failed to deliver.
Since 2017 there is a coalition government of MEP/POR/RED with the priority of putting the human being central in their government program called ‘HUNTO PA ARUBA 2017-2021’ led by the first female Prime Minister of Aruba Mrs. Evelyn Wever Croes, the niece of the late legendary Liberator and patriot of Aruba Gilberto Francois “Betico” Croes in loving memory. According to the Aruba Multidimensional Poverty Index 2010 by Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), I quote: “Analysis on a regional level shows San Nicolas South as the one region with the most AMPI poor households, however at a zone level, a slightly different picture can be discerned. At a zone level there are some AMPI-poor zones within regions with a lower AMPI score and vice versa. Overall, 4.9% to 45.7% of the population of zones is AMPI poor, with the lowest percentage of AMPI poor households in Seroe Colorado and the highest percentage of AMPI poor households in the Village.”
So there are concerns on migration, population density, schools, housing and also the load on our general medical insurance like we haven’t learned anything after 33 years of self government. All these concerns are just excuses from the establishment to keep San Nicolas dependent and in a marginally existence. The natives are tired of always getting excluded from the general progress of the island and this time we will not accept the exclusion and institutional discrimination to say the least. The hotel will bring the necessary investments for the area, improve its infrastructure, employment and grow the middle class of Aruba which is much needed after a 3 year recession induced by the former anti-Aruban administration of Mr. Mike Eman that left Aruba with the highest national debt in the Dutch Kingdom to date of over 6 billion florins with a 250 million florins goes to interest payments per year. Without economic growth of 3% annually for the next 20 years Aruba would stay in tough public finances well after 2039 limiting its resources to provide good governance for its people. United we bargain, divided we beg. San Nicolas it is your turn for economic and social development, you deserve nothing less. It’s now or never.