Dear Editor,
St. Maarten was not happy with the conditions given by the Dutch. For this reason, many have suggested independence from the Netherlands.
However, independence is not an indispensable solution to our current problem. This is because our problem is not the conditions presented to us by the Dutch. In actuality, our problem is the inability to take care of ourselves from a fiscal standpoint. As this present crisis continues to unfold in this reality, it becomes more evident that this has been a long-standing issue. Therefore, it is no fault of any particular faction or any current person in government. In fact, given the political instability, no government has sat in office long enough, from 10-10-10 to effect real change.
Many scholars, as well as the OECD [Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development – Ed.] in 2009, have heeded that small island developing states (SIDS) face several challenges regarding their economic development. St. Maarten, much like many of its SIDS counterparts, also encounters similar economic issues.
Firstly, St. Maarten is considered small, both in the territory and in population. As a result, there is low economy of scale and higher production cost for goods and services for the government. Additionally, there is a low (or an unknown) level of tax compliance.
Another notable point is the fact that St. Maarten is vulnerable to external shock; we are highly impacted by what is going on in the global market, particularly the United States. Therefore, our economic success is highly dependent on the policymakers and their ability to anticipate, mitigate, and manage these potential shocks.
St. Maarten also faces environmental vulnerability, that is heightened by climate change. The most recent being Hurricane Irma in 2017. This is a reminder of our vulnerability and its impact on the single-pillar economy, thus presenting one of the predominant issues: the lack of economic diversification in St. Maarten, as the island has a tourist-based single-pillar economy.
It is clear that we face many challenges, but the most significant challenge yet is the lack of relevant data. Decisions are difficult to make without pertinent data to give a better understanding of the problem. Taking it a step further, there is a lack of proper Census Data. Census data help us to understand who owns what, who lives where, and what are the needs in various communities. Furthermore, this information ensures that everyone is contributing appropriately, and the country's needs are being met.
The factors mentioned above render the economy of St. Maarten weak and vulnerable to forces beyond its control. Unfortunately, the GDP [gross domestic product] or GNP [gross national product] per capita may conceal this underlying reality.
Independence would mean that St. Maarten would have more options. However, these options often also come with conditionality. For example, the IMF [International Monetary Fund] and World Bank usually go for cuts in benefits, with minimal successful outcomes, might I add. Furthermore, with such vast external and environmental vulnerabilities, there would be many possible occasions for the island to be subjected to those conditions.
Furthermore, the more you borrow, the more debt you will accumulate; this also impacts the extent to which you can borrow or the interest rate you may be given while lending. This will ultimately provide our decision-makers with two viable options, raising taxes or reducing benefits.
St. Maarten has inherited a challenging financial situation; this is because St. Maarten assumed the debt of the Netherland Antilles. The Netherlands helped reduce that debt to the recommended 30 per cent of GDP. However, this was not enough. The following are a few general short- and long-term suggestions pending proper research and data collection:
Short-term
Eliminate wastage: Evaluate and reduce resources.
Strengthen our public financial management system by increasing transparency, accountability, and checks and balances while increasing fiscal discipline.
A strengthened procurement process for more clarity and to avoid abuse or wastage.
An environmental fee for our cruise-ship visitors to the island.
Enforcement of the policies to enable collection fees on government debt.
Increase the overall culture of tax compliance, strengthen our tax administration.
Complete a base-line study to evaluate the current development issues, for more elaborate actions and decision making.
Scope out and commit land to agriculture using local resources and knowledge base to create a sustainable livelihood and food security.
Long-term
Identify and negotiate the implementation of additional sources of revenue for the government.
Develop the agricultural sector.
Research of a tax system that works for all and can support the country's needs.
Improve data management systems to ensure tax compliance by issuing social security numbers.
Independence for St. Maarten is not an unattainable goal. However, there is much work to be done before we get there to get there. The Government of St. Maarten had to make tough decisions to get past this situation, which may impact several persons, including the Members of Parliament and the Council of Ministers themselves. However, the focus after that should be on ensuring that we are not in this fiscal position again.
Leandra Cyntje
Entrepreneurs from different corners of the globe, including Curaçao, have joined forces in partnership to take on a global initiative, combining medical, technological and strategic workforce perspectives into account to remedy and support an ever-growing demand for mitigating the risks involved in our new COVID-19 realities.
The consortium consists of Cohortias (Mexico), a trusted and reliable clinical research organization (CRO), Azure8 (USA), a reputed medical device company specialized in COVID-related devices and equipment, Aeffect International (Netherlands and Curaçao), a strategic workforce company with the ability to locally execute large-scale people-related operations, and ITS Caribbean & Latin America (Curaçao) a Smart Mobility advisor and solution provider.
The intent and purpose of the joint collaboration is to remove or lessen the burden held by both private and public entities in their adjustments to much-needed measures in the fight for protection against the novel virus. According to the consortium, the best and only way to avoid quarantines upon arrival and build on a solid method to contain and monitor the virus is through intensive scheduled testing on visitors, people on the frontline and in the end, all citizens. The tests have been thoroughly evaluated out of more than 50 groups of tests based on validity and accuracy (sensitivity and specificity statistics).
“We have chosen a CE registered test with a sensitivity of 100 per cent and a specificity of 99.22 per cent, considered highly accurate and promising”, says Vipula Tailor, founder and CEO of Azure8. “This scheduled testing protocol combined with personal protection measures, distancing and adjustment of air treatment and ventilation systems should mitigate pressure on the healthcare system.”
“Specific to this case, we are providing an attractive alternative solution to the existing mandated quarantine in some countries including Curaçao, which could grant the government freedom and assurance to open borders urgently but safely. Visitors and tourists will contribute collaboratively into a negligible fee which in turn will welcome a happier and safer traveller. By the same token, residents and the populace of Curaçao will also feel safer and more comfortable, knowing that island visitors are tested upon arrival, throughout their stay and finally at departure, creating a safe, vigilant and enjoyable environment for everyone,” says Dr. Martin Hernandez Torre of Cohortias.
The overall medical and operational coordination and management of protocol is headed by the reputed Dr. Martin Hernandez Torre and the operational protocol conducted by CEO Martijn Wallert. Azure-8 with Vipula Tailor would oversee and coordinate the entire supply chain with local authorities and organizations such as Hato Airport and other relevant stakeholders. Aeffect International’s Hans Plesman would spearhead the local execution together with a team of residents working for the company. ITS and Luigi Scutto will provide technological support for tourists and caretakers by developing an application.
The solution will be entirely customizable based on client needs, introducing a COVID-19 Travel Passport to accommodate visitors, keep record of their scheduled testing, providing useful travel advice on hygiene, distancing, the COVID-19 virus, emergency contact information on the island, and locations of testing facilities. Persons for whom an app is not an option could use a traditional paper booklet as an alternative.
The solution is based on a well-constructed medical and operational protocol that will be tailored to guidelines provided by the well-known RIVM and TNO of the Netherlands.
Nick Miro
Project Manager at Aeffect International
Dear Editor,
The headline is not misleading. For far too long, developing countries in particular have mulled over and teased the idea of campaign finance reform to their respective electorates. It’s a problem when unknown magnates pump money into an election campaign, and then reap tenfold when their parties get into power. Governments want to assure their publics that the money they collect is blood- and drug-free and that their campaign machinery isn’t washing cash for warlords and drug dealers.
On the other hand, honest and decent people are simply not able to generate the countless millions of dollars required for campaigning. But those who sow the seed of cash must reap the benefits. These unknown persons hide in the shadows and constantly pull and twizzle the strings of the elected leaders, forcing them to dance to their tune of choice.
After listening to the revelations of Labour’s political leader Dr. Denzil Douglas, I – and thousands of my countrymen, surely – was shocked by the ease at which our little country was being fitted into the Barbadian puppeteer’s gloves.
Bottom line upfront:
- Anthony Da Silva is the chief financier of Timothy Harris’ 2020 campaign.
- The rationale for pumping so much money into this campaign is personal enrichment for Tim Harris and the Bajan businessman.
- Team Unity administration is selling out to a privately-owned Barbadian company. Fact or fiction?
- The economic consequences of St. Kitts and Nevis being indebted to a private company are many.
The Barbadian financier, Anthony Da Silva, is a bit of an enigma. His father Frank is much more well-known, and was a strong supporter and financier of the Barbados Democratic Labour Party for many years. His investment paid off with an ambassadorial appointment.
Innotech was founded in 1999 and its Board consists of Chairman Anthony and a number of the Da Silva clan. Da Silva has had run-ins with the Government of Barbados over a rural water project, where it is alleged that he modified the tender and supplied bigger water tanks for which he billed the government beyond its budget. The impasse lasted for months.
Da Silva was also said to have been the only bidder for the construction of the Barbados Water Authority headquarters. A number of unverified reports claim that the project was being funded by a private entity from the Turks and Caicos; but that the representative for this company had the same registered address as Innotech.
When Timothy Harris threw his tantrum and walked away from Labour, Da Silva rushed to his side with the offer to fund his fledgling People’s Labour Party. Players like Sam Condor and Dwyer Astaphan may have been able to woo voters, but they were not as successful in attracting the Labour Party’s financiers. It created a perfect storm of both confusion and necessity for Da Silva. As he pumped cash into the toddling PLP, Team Unity insiders say that the plan was to keep one major financier, so that should the party gain governance, there would be no need for a complicated kickback mechanism to reward too many players. Less than two years later, the Team Unity government announced that Innotech Services was a key contractor in the controversial, scandal-ridden new Basseterre High School Project.
Harris also knows that he ascended to the throne by a freak accident. All the conditions were right. And like the dog who gets a bone, he did not know what to do with his new prize. Enter Da Silva – a cunningly shrewd businessman. Harris quickly announced a slew of infrastructural work in all sectors; renovating public buildings, roadworks, drainage, housing and the new high school. Harris had no clue how to repay – and pay – Da Silva for his kindness, and so used unorthodox tendering and procurement procedures in order to bring Da Silva to the front of the line. But Da Silva threw his very small hat in a rather large ring, for despite being touted as a regional construction company, there had been much furore in his homeland over what was said to be very poor engineering work on the Ocean Reef project. When approached for a comment on the issue, Da Silva dryly told a local reporter that he wasn’t going to comment on a private issue between himself and his client.
There is no reason to doubt the veracity of the recording that Labour has aired. Investigation of two anti-Labour Facebook pages (Team Unity USA and The People’s Federation) show they were registered on the same date, and that one is administered in Barbados, while the other is managed from Florida. Coincidence? I think not. In fact, the only doubts that surface pertain to the judgement of the Prime Minister in managing the economy. It’s true that he said the Federation is in good financial standing, but we are yet to see the actual balance sheets. After all, people can say what they want. Also, simply repaying debt means little, if it is at the cost of education, healthcare and livelihoods.
But more worrisome and precarious for St. Kitts and Nevis is the contractual arrangement Timothy Harris entered into with a private company from Barbados. It means that the hard-working people of St. Kitts and Nevis have become beholden to Harris’ campaign financier from Barbados. Massa day is back. And a Black leader is selling out his people and country to a White man.
We know that the Federation is saturated with skilled workers and more than its fair share of engineers. Why weren’t they given a share in Tim’s national pie? How is it that in five years Tim was unable to secure mutually beneficial government-to-government arrangements to assist with these massive projects? Is it because private companies are better back-office chefs? How much cream has been skimmed off the top? The price tag for the new Basseterre High School, for example, has gone from an initial estimate of $60 million to $140 million. Who is going to end up with the difference? Tim and the Harris family? Da Silva? Or some other foreign vampire who we are yet to uncover?
Team Unity came to power in 2015 and inherited a strong economy and a surplus of EC $900 million left by the Douglas government. That is a huge sum for a small country by any measure. It spoke volumes of the prudent financial management of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party government. But in less than five years, Timothy Harris single-handedly squandered and frittered away this reserve. Today, SKN is in a precarious economic state. And Tim, the bean-counting accountant and friend of the Bajan Businessman, along with his family have benefited. Have you? Another five years of this choke-and-rob gang would mean the economic and financial demise of our country.
Joel B. Liburd
Communications Consultant
Basseterre/Quebec
Dear Editor,
This is not about Ambassador Ansari, Ambassador has always taken care of his employees. We are grateful to him in many ways if only we can reach him personally. We believe he has no clue on his operations.
Employees at the Towers of Mullet Bay have to use this newspaper to get Mr. Clarence Derby’s attention. Since, and even before during this pandemic workers at the Towers had not heard anything from our GM Mr. Clarence Derby.
This was passed on via department heads and coworkers: “Stay home until further notice and receive 50 per cent.”
- No Meeting.
- No Memo, nothing at all. Absolute silence from our General Manager Mr. Clarence Derby.
It’s only fair that the workers speak out so that he can hear us. Two months have passed. Workers are hurting, where is your empathy Mr. Derby? Where is your heart? You have nothing to say?
We still have everyday financial obligations which have not been put on hold, we have families providing for, groceries to purchase, landlords to pay, mortgages to pay, GEBE.
Some of your workers’ salaries are under $400 a month with this 50 per cent. What can be done with that? This is abusive, Mr. Derby, can you sleep at night knowing that your workers are hurting? You don’t even pretend to care. You just don’t care?
Workers at the Towers at Mullet Bay
Dear Friends on Curaçao, Aruba, St. Maarten, Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba,
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that” – M.L. King. These are troubling times for America and the world. Reports on the protests on American streets are confusing and painful. So, we need to be clear: Americans support peoples’ freedom to peacefully express themselves.
Protests represent genuine and legitimate concerns about improving the country. But violence is not the solution to injustice.
Freedom of speech and the right to peaceful assembly are fundamental rights of all people, and those of us fortunate to live in democratic societies need to respect and protect those rights if we are to keep them. But upholding our rights and the cause of justice needs to be done in a way that attacks the evil of injustice itself, and not one another.
Terrence Floyd, the brother of the late George Floyd, is calling on people to protest without violence. “We’ve been down this road already,” he said. “(George) would want to seek justice the way we are, the way we’re trying to do. The anger, damaging your hometown, it’s not the way he’d want.”
It’s inspiring to see the rise of the “Walk with Us” movement, where police join peaceful protesters condemning racism, police brutality and calling for an end to violence on all sides. We can learn from these expressions of unity and solidarity with the cause of justice.
In the 1960s, violent protest rocked many places in the world. Curaçao has just commemorated its 1969 “30 di mei” events with ceremonies emphasising the need for inclusiveness in a multi-ethnic society. We Americans can learn from these lessons – Please share them with us.
In the United States in the 1960s, riots and looting were widespread in cities across the country. In a context of overt racism and brutality, Dr. Martin Luther King, the champion of social justice and Nobel Peace Prize winner, wrote a book called Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community. In that book, he captured America’s conscience, setting forth a prescription for attaining the lasting justice he so fervently sought.
Dr. King wrote: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. The beauty of nonviolence is that in its own way and in its own time it seeks to break the chain reaction of evil.”
As we strive to form a more perfect union, these are words we all need to reflect upon.
U.S. Consul General
Allen Greenberg
