Williams: Authorities were pressured to prosecute Claude Wathey. “The Hague was determined to bring Claude Wathey down”

GREAT BAY--Former journalist Eddie Williams alleged that senior judicial authorities in the former Netherlands Antilles were instructed and pressured by representatives of the Dutch government to secure the prosecution and conviction of the late Dr. Claude Wathey.

Williams made the claim while delivering a tribute during the centennial commemoration of Wathey’s birth. He said the former Chief Justice of the Netherlands Antilles, De Lannoy, discussed the alleged pressure during a conversation with Williams and a prominent Dutch businessman at the Rembrandt Cafe.

“The then Chief Justice of the Netherlands Antilles, De Lannoy, told us, me and a prominent Dutch businessman who is still around, that he and his department were instructed and pressured by the Dutch government through its agents to convict Claude Wathey,” Williams said.

Williams placed the alleged conversation within the period when Wathey was being investigated over financial irregularities connected to the construction of the Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise and Cargo Facilities.

Wathey was later convicted of perjury and sentenced to one year in prison in 1994. Williams said Wathey did not serve the sentence because of health concerns, adding that many people continued to believe the case was politically motivated and designed to remove him from public life.

“The Hague was determined to bring Claude Wathey down,” Williams said.

Williams did not limit his tribute to praise. He described Wathey as a leader who cared deeply for ordinary people, but who could also be ruthless when his political leadership was challenged.

“The old man was always for the small man. Most mornings, he would stand by Wathey Travel to greet his people. Yet the old man was a viciously ruthless politician, quick to crush any challenge or perceived challenge to his leadership,” Williams said.

According to Williams, Wathey’s political strength extended well beyond St. Maarten. With one parliamentary seat then representing Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten, Wathey frequently held the balance of power in the Parliament and governments of the former Netherlands Antilles.

“He held the balance of power in the parliament and governments of the Netherlands Antilles with one seat representing Saba, St. Eustatius, and St. Maarten. Claude dictated his terms to the central government. He shaped the formation process of many central governments,” Williams said.

Williams recalled that Wathey strongly opposed a proposal advanced under then Prime Minister Maria Liberia-Peters to allocate three parliamentary seats to St. Maarten, with one each for Saba and St. Eustatius, following population growth.

According to Williams, Wathey believed the expanded representation would create an opportunity for the opposition to secure a seat and weaken his political control.

Williams said Wathey dominated St. Maarten’s political landscape for approximately 40 years and spearheaded much of the island’s economic and infrastructural development.

“Albert Claudius Wathey dominated and spearheaded the development of Dutch St. Maarten,” he said.

Williams congratulated the Wathey family for organizing the centennial tribute and said his work as a journalist gave him the opportunity to know Wathey personally.

He first met Wathey in November 1982. During Carnival in 1983, Wathey’s son Norman invited him aboard the boat Captain David, which was docked at the small pier.

With Wathey at the controls, the group travelled to Anguilla and spent the day there.

Williams also reflected on the physical condition of St. Maarten when he and his family arrived on the island.

He recalled that the road from Princess Juliana International Airport through to Walter Nisbett Road, then known as Pondfield Road, was unpaved. Cannegieter Street was also a dirt road, while the area in front of the former Government Administration Building became a pool of mud during heavy rainfall.

Williams recalled that when his friends Marcel and Myra Gumbs were married, they had to reach the Administration Building by boat because of the rain and flooding.

He described the paving of the road from Princess Juliana International Airport to Philipsburg as the island’s first major infrastructural development project.

Several hotels were already operating at the time, including Mullet Bay Resort, which Williams described as the economic barometer of St. Maarten, along with Divi Little Bay, Caravanserai, St. Maarten Beach Club, Holland House and Belair.

These properties provided employment for residents on both Dutch St. Maarten and French Saint Martin.

Williams said Wathey entered politics and won his first election in July 1961 alongside his friend and colleague Clemente Labega.

The Democratic Party was co-founded by Labega and Wathey. While Labega eventually left politics, Wathey remained and went on to dominate the island’s political life.

At the time, St. Maarten had a population of approximately 2,000 people.

Williams credited Wathey’s vision with transforming the island into an international destination through foreign investment, free trade, tourism development, improvements to Princess Juliana International Airport and construction of the cruise and cargo facilities that now bear his name.

“Claude’s vision turned St. Maarten into a key international destination, attracting foreign investments, free trade, upgrading the Juliana Airport, construction of the A.C. Wathey Pier, tourism development, making St. Maarten a top-class destination,” Williams said.

Wathey frequently clashed with both the government of the former Netherlands Antilles and the Dutch government, Williams recalled.

When higher supervision was imposed on the Government of St. Maarten, Wathey resigned from office in 1991 and declared that he was a proud Caribbean man.

Beyond his political career, Williams recalled a personal side of Wathey that was especially evident in his relationship with his grandchildren.

Wathey acquired a minivan specifically to take his grandchildren on weekend outings. Williams said Wathey explained that he had not spent enough quality time with his own children and was determined not to repeat that with the next generation.

“The old man acquired a minivan for the sole purpose of taking his grandchildren for rides on weekends, saying that he did not spend quality time with his children and will not let that happen with his grandchildren,” Williams said.

Williams said he and Wathey had many off-the-record exchanges and developed a healthy respect for one another.

Their relationship could at times be described as a love-hate relationship, he said, but Wathey’s commitment to his people remained central to his decisions.

“Sometimes a love-hate relationship, but he did what he had to do for his people. That was always paramount to Albert Claudius Wathey,” Williams said.

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