Dear Editor,
I would like to expound my views on public transportation, because my comrades have been badgering to talk about the industry. As a small-time labouring man, who has been going through the vicissitudes of life, I have very little time for anything else. But because my comrades would not let up, I have decided to put “pen on paper.” They have asked me a plethora of questions about the chaotic state of the industry. But the following questions are the most crucial ones.
Why have the St. Maarten-born bus drivers let a Haitian-born national run the show? Why have bus drivers refused to service the Middle Region and Sucker Garden route? Why do gypsies blatantly pick up people within the confines of the bus stops?
The answer to the first question is a simple one: The Constitution of Country St. Maarten gives every Dutch citizen (the person in question has a Dutch passport) inalienable rights. The answer to the second question is a very difficult one: I have spoken with some of the bus drivers who used to service the Middle Region and Dutch Quarter route. They told me the new road is a “major problem.” According to them, the way the cement was laid is detrimental to the bushings and the bearings of the buses. But since I am not a mechanic, I have no opinion about that. What I do know is, Middle has become exclusively gypsy territory.
The answer to the final question is quite obvious. The government, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of TEATT, and some members in the “top brass” of the police force are gypsy-friendly. Even parliament is “wrapped up in the brew.” Nobody in government is on the side of the legitimate, tax-paying bus drivers. The legitimate bus drivers have to toe the line, while the illegal bus drivers and the gypsies (seemingly) have been given cart blanch to ply for hire among us. “Ain't that a shame?”
Comrades, there are about 300 buses on the road. Yes, 300 buses and innumerable gypsies run on the roads of this 16-square mile island. Let me give kudos to the former minister of TEATT Ingrid Arrindell for controlling the unending requests for “help drivers” during her tenure. When a prime minister would deem it necessary to issue “help-driver” permits to what is evidently a money racket, something is terribly wrong with that prime minister.
Maybe the special Anti-Corruption Taskforce of the Kingdom Detective Team RST, under the supervision of an Investigating Judge, should look into the situation. Or maybe if Dutch MPs Andre Bosman (VVD) and Ronald van Raak (SP) should start "running off" their mouths about integrity breaches regarding public transportation, then government would get a wake-up call.
And our local MPs would diatribe against Dutch interference. They would say, "The Dutch want to trample on our autonomy." Tommyrot! The country is seven years old. What has our Parliament done to have public transportation regulated properly? Nothing!
Comrades, I will be back in a little while with another hot issue.
Julien F. Petty
