Dear Editor,
What defence do I have when visitors who continually return to St. Maarten hint to me that social media is not painting a good picture of the island? More and more the term “lawless country” is used. I try to avoid giving my opinion verbally because people tend to take things out of context. It may be accepted as if we were boasting, but that is what it was.
When we were running things, The Friendly Island lived up to the name. Members of Parliament along with the Ministers make policies and laws; the police along with the extraordinary police enforce the laws. So when I have to hear that St. Maarten is becoming lawless I have to look to the police boss and the prosecutor’s office to have the police back in order, that the police can do their part.
Say one say two: The prime minister on the other hand should also take the blame because he also should not permit the different ministers to act as if they own those positions. No, they are elected and (too well) paid to do the job in the interest of the country and not themselves. N̈ot me, the proof is in the fact, with the amount of people in government and leaders in government and employees in government who have been indicted and convicted for committing acts not in the interest of the people.
When I look at the Kruithoff roundabout (Cole Bay) I ask myself who is profiting financially from having all those commercial boards and signs in that area? Being traffic safety conscious, I believe that VROMI [Ministry of Public Housing, Urban Planning, Environment and Infrastructure – Ed.] and the police traffic department should be involved in such matters before these commercial boards, just as those next to the airport, are placed there. I doubt that the police traffic department is aware of all of this, so for good order these boards should be taken down.
Which brings me back to those bus stop huts on the Nisbeth Road which are the main reasons for causing the traffic hold-ups on that road. And the police traffic department does not have any legislation of them.
On occasions I have been told that I am tough on our Members of Parliament. My response remains: As long as the laws governing the minimum education required to be able to be elected as Member of Parliament are not changed or implemented, I will continue to make my opinion known. It remains absurd that one can be elected to be a Member of Parliament without being obliged to know the laws governing the country.
I am not advocating for a police state.
Concerning those bikers. I am of the opinion that they are not versed in the traffic rules. It seems as if they are of the opinion that blowing the horn on their bikes or accelerating automatically gives them the right to overtake the rest of the traffic. I believe that the police should invite a delegation of them to have a meeting and put them straight with the traffic rules. I will state it again: The biker is always the one who ends up with personal injuries when there’s an accident – not the wall, nor the car.
Russell A. Simmons
