Dear Editor,
During a court case back in 2014, a judge accused a prosecutor of practicing class justice on St. Maarten. Many people were surprised that a Dutch judge would make such an accusation on this island. But, it is a subject worth pondering: Are we practicing class justice on St. Maarten?
Whether class justice exists on St. Maarten or not, has not been established, at least not to my knowledge. But what is clear to see is that there is class criticism. Not in the justice system, but in our community.
Let me give some facts that will clarify why I came to this conclusion. Every day I read the letters to the editor on opinion pages in the news papers. People express their dissatisfaction with many issues; political, educational, social, religious, you name it. Just pay close attention to when these authors become brave enough to write and expose their dissatisfaction.
Only since the UP-led government was put out of office do people muster up the courage to criticize and write about the issues that have been affecting them for a long period of time. The authors openly admit that these issues have been going on for years. The very same years that the UP-led government has been in office.
Yet, those issues were never mentioned during that time. But now, these same people express disgust towards the recently-installed government about the problems that have been affecting and worrying them for all these years. Prior to this government being installed they never dared to criticize. Why?
To further prove my point, I read an article in The Daily Herald of Tuesday, January 19, entitled: Government has gotten off track. The author admits that her letter was written exactly two months since the new government took office. Yet the author criticizes this new government for matters she admits have been long ongoing. Things like the long ongoing situation at NIPA, the ongoing problem with the harassment of tourists on Great Bay Beach, the ongoing problem with the Vorst property.
The author went on and on about all the long ongoing problems. Why weren't these issues addressed so vigorously when the UP-led government was in office? Why do these critics wait until the UP-led government is out of office to address these grievances, while these grievances surfaced during the governance of the UP-led government?
The answer to this question is: People are afraid to criticize the UP-led government. This community suffers from class criticism. Something very similar to class justice.
Fernando R. Clark
