As time draws nearer for the implementation of the Franco/Dutch Treaty on the island of St. Maarten in the Netherland Antilles, many Jamaicans living on the Eastern Caribbean island are still in the dark about how and if they will be affected once it is introduced.

When the treaty comes into effect, sometime during the next few weeks as has been proposed, nationals from Jamaica, Guyana, Suriname, and Dominica, considered 'high-risk' countries, would require visas to visit the island.

However, so far there has been no official word on how this new regime will affect citizens from the above-mentioned countries already living on the island.

"I was told to wait by immigration," revealed Marsha Thomas, president of the Jamaican Social and Heritage Society, the organisation that represents Jamaicans living on the island. "I was told that there was no definite document for them to say anything."

Treaty in effect

However, just recently, St. Maarten's Lieutenant Governor, Franklyn Richards, announced that the treaty would come into effect sometime this month amid concerns from some entities that the island was not yet ready for the treaty to be imposed.

Ludwig Ouenniche, president of the St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce, expressed his concerns in the media earlier this week, saying there is still much work to be done before the treaty can be put into effect. According to the Chamber president, among the things that need to be done is the setting up of a committee that will determine what exactly are the 'high-risk' countries and how the government will deal with the treaty in a practical manner. Ouenniche has proposed that people from the Caribbean who have interest in doing business on the island be granted five-year, multiple-entry visas.

'High-risk' countries

Meantime, according to Thomas, it is believed that Jamaica will be one of the 'high-risk' countries because Jamaicans make up a large part of the immigrant population on the island. Figures from the St. Maarten Census Bureau were not readily available but some estimates suggest there are close to 6,000 Jamaicans living on the island legally. Informed guesses suggest there are about the same number living on the island illegally.

There are also other contributing factors to Jamaica's 'high-risk' status.

"In the past five to seven years, Jamaicans have been prevalent in robberies, accidents, domestic crimes and other criminal activity," said Thomas, who has been living on the island for more than 20 years. "We have a stigma worldwide of being involved in gangs and drug deals."