Dear Editor,
The Oxford Dictionary defines “ego” as a person's sense of his/her own worth and importance. Conceit is excessive pride in oneself.
I recently learned a new term, stupid-stubborn; two self-explanatory words that need no definition. I didn't learn it from a dictionary; it was coined by my doctor. (She was describing me.)
I'm now beginning to think that the longer certain politicians remain in power, the more their ego, conceit, and stupid-stubbornness grow.
Our government has aggressively rejected the Integrity Chamber from day one. Yet, they don't want voters to believe they might have something (a multitude of shameful things?) to hide; things that, if exposed, could make them fall from grace and maybe lead to their downfall.
They keep repeating, "We have nothing to hide", nonetheless, they very strongly continue to resist the IC with all that's in them, even to the extent that this senseless power struggle is postponing the desperately-needed help from the Netherlands, who – thank God – is still willing to help an island whose government they claim is totally corrupt.
The fact that the Dutch published a long list of items they sent to St. Maarten as aid in this newspaper is an indication of their distrust of our government. They want the people of St. Maarten to know what they have done so far. The EU is also willing to send monetary help, but they apparently won't, if the Netherlands holds back theirs.
I thank God for our mother land, and Aruba and Curaçao who helped us get back on our feet after Hurricane Luis 22 years ago and are helping us now again. May God bless our mother land and our sister islands.
By the way, we are not hearing anything from the clowns who are totally against the Dutch and who are talking about independence. They must have gone into hiding.
In my opinion, any honest politician – one who has a clear conscience and nothing to hide – would very much welcome an Integrity Chamber. It would help to keep him or her honest. They can't use the excuse of not being able to pay for the IC, because Holland is willing to pay for it.
A genuine watchdog at absolutely no cost to the government is still aggressively being kept at bay.
As far as border control is concerned, the fact that we have tens of thousands of aliens (whether undocumented or not) on our island is proof positive that we have failed miserably to protect our borders and our interests.
Another sad fact nobody is talking about is that the majority of homes on the island are not insured, for the simple reason that homeowners simply cannot afford to pay the exorbitant insurance premiums. After this disaster, the already-unaffordable premiums are probably going to triple, placing them absolutely beyond our means.
A senior acquaintance, who has been here for several decades, recently told me he is seriously considering selling his home and going back to his island of birth, Aruba. There he will be able to live a stress-free life. He will never have to fear hurricanes, becoming homeless overnight, despicable looters, and having to pay astronomical insurance premiums.
This is certainly not the time for our politicians to nurture their egos and engage in a power struggle with the Dutch. The homeless and unemployed, and there are so many of them, are in desperate need of help, and they need it now.
If our politicians don't come to their senses soon, their stupid-stubbornness might even lead to us getting no help at all. And, yes, they will still want us to vote for them again after – rather if – we overcome this catastrophe.
I say “if” because we, including our government, don't have much more than a clue of the full extent of the damage St. Maarten has suffered. We now have thousands of people who are out of work; how are these people going to pay their rent or their
mortgage or, worse yet, put food on the table? Despair and hopelessness, such as not being able to feed your hungry children, will cause even good and peace-loving people to do desperate things. Bad things are likely to start happening.
Let's hope and pray that our politicians do come to their senses, stop this stupid power struggle with the Dutch and swallow their pride for the sake of the wellbeing of the people they are supposed to protect and take care of.
If we ever needed the honourable people in government to be competent and effective, and do the right thing, it's now!
Clive Hodge
