Dear Editor,
If we follow the old wisdom of “the longer you live the more you learn” St. Maarten citizens would have to live for centuries as longevity may be the only real teacher of where our leaders are taking us. We have successfully muddied the waters to our convenience that it is practically impossible to trust powers constituting government in a democracy or a semblance thereof.
Our “courts” once declared that in St. Maarten there is a problem with true justice and as the judge put it there is “class Justice”. The learned judge came to this conclusion for in a case before the bench concerning alleged vote buying he did not see what he considered the right people or person before him. The Prosecutor’s Office proclaimed to have started a civil investigation at the Port because of the cries of the people and questions posed in Parliament. Strangely enough they did not trust the audit chamber to do its job, so we use the penal institution to circumnavigate the normal order and later pursue and arrest people based on the information gathered.
Of course, there are and have been cries in the community for time immemorial about illegal employment and short term contracts abuse, but we have not heard of the Prosecutor’s Office taking up this cause. I know we would hear that is not their duty, but if you can usurp the competence of any branch based of a less than truthful statement why stop there maybe you should also step in the boots of the legislature and the executive, for according to you and your European bosses you are doing it for the people.
In accordance herewith we would expect to hear about a civil investigation into the three thousand plus illegals that are registered at the SZV, after all in today’s St. Maarten we need a pictured ID basically for everything from the maternity ward to the morgue. It would be interesting to know how the companies registered them and what ID they used.
We are also concerned about the way raids by the uniformed services are carried out on the eastside and how they differ with raids over the hill (MAHO area). In like businesses, the proprietors on the eastside are charged with human trafficking, employment of illegals, and many more drummed-up charges and incarcerated. While over the hill the persons are simply turned over to the INS, no charges announced and no one arrested. And, if that is not bad enough we are also lectured on how terrible it is for tourism to apply the law equally on the entire island.
We are reminded of one such raid at MAHO that resulted in an emergency meeting by the Council of Ministers and a temporary halt to raids in that area. We have waited but failed to see or hear of fines that are on the books being levied against these businesses that clearly operate outside the law employing illegals while denying our young people a chance to make an honest living. We hope that we can get some help in understanding whether this should be seen as class justice or racism, as all the businesses over the hill are owned mostly by them and on the eastside by people that look like me.
Of course, when it comes to accountability we can ask our government but since the Justice Department is in the business of usurping competence as seen in their push for the exclusion of the court in the asset confiscation team they might also be able to speak for government. On this 37-square-mile-mosquito-ridden-sun-baked island it is hard sometime to be sure where to turn, on the 16 square miles under the red, white and blue banner it is even more complex and unknown. As a people it would be nice if we can lower our hands from over our heads in total despair and find some kind of hope in those in the halls of power.
It has been long coming, I am sure two-thirds of the 15 parliamentarians will start to feel the pain and disgust of the people and do the right thing. After all in other times and places stranger things have happened.
Elton Jones
