The Status Scandal on the Island of Saint-Martin

The adverse effects of the 1986 law of defiscalization generated an unprecedented upheaval on half of the island of Saint-Martin. From a quiet rural life, the northern half moved into a rampant urbanization, an exponential increase of the population, a chronic unemployment rate...Twenty years later, another law is looming on the horizon: the organic law defining a new status for this commune. The content of the "road map" was decided in the sole interest of the political leaders and of a few businessmen.