Google MyMaps screenshot
Saint-Martin to the north and Sint Maarten to the south, have clarified their border at Oyster Pond (blue dot).
POLITICS – This is the story of a few meters. Gérald Darmanin is this Friday, May 26 at Saint-Martinin the West Indies, to sign an agreement fixing the route of the border between the French and Dutch parts of the island, disputed at its eastern end.
The island of Saint-Martin is divided in two, with a French overseas community to the north and a state dependent on the kingdom of the The Netherlands, Sint Maarten. However, nothing materializes the border.
Google Maps screenshot
Saint Martin, to the north, and Sint Maarten, to the south
The agreement signed Friday afternoon with the Prime Minister of Sint Maarteen is supposed to clarify the separation at Oyster Pond, on the east coast of the island.
Territorial conflict
The marina of this marina was the subject of a sovereignty dispute because of the vagueness at this point of the border line linked to the Treaty of Concordia, signed in 1648 between the French and the Dutch after the departure of the Spaniards.
Despite the creation at the end of 2017 of a Franco-Dutch steering committee to coordinate reconstruction efforts after the passage of theHurricane Irmadisagreements persisted over the management of the bay.
The border will now cross “the middle of the pond, thus giving an equal share of the water to both sides”rejoiced the Prime Minister of Sint Maarten, Silveria Jacobs.
The agreement “will allow us to precisely and clearly define our border” All “while preserving the freedom of movement established by the Treaty of Concordia”also welcomed the president of the community of Saint-Martin, Louis Mussington.
Darmanin also expected in Saint-Barthélemy
The resolution of this territorial dispute “will pave the way for a long-awaited economic and urban recovery” by the inhabitants of this territory with a high poverty rate, he said in a press release.
Gérald Darmanin will take advantage of his stay in Saint-Martin to discuss Saturday morning with police and gendarmes on issues of securitywhile the circulation of firearms on the island worries the authorities.
Then he will lay the first stone of the future Administrative and Judicial City of Saint-Martin. The Minister of the Interior will then take the direction of Saint-Barthélemy, where he will discuss with the president of the territorial council, Xavier Lédée, and will have dinner with economic actors.
On Sunday, a meeting is scheduled with the security forces, before an environmental control operation in a nature reserve on the small island.
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