Dear Editor,

  Death is as present as the shadows cast from our bodies by the sun’s brilliance during our waking life. Intertwined with life is this non-negotiator ever lurking in the shadows, remaining unseen from an espial right in the here-and-now. Death comes knocking at our doors unannounced, oblivious to whether we are prepared or not. What an inflexible and cruel truth this can be for those who are overwhelmed by the co-existence of this invisible resident.

Dear Editor,

  One of my people who usually picks my brain asked me recently what were the acronyms for “nothing going on”. Because I know who I was dealing with, I assumed that it was a loaded question, so I told him to turn off his phone, you will not play it back and say that I say. The part of the conclusion of the discussion turned out to be that those are the people who constantly stagnate the business of the country. A common expression has become “the bottom of the pile” or “in the drawer which is hardly opened”.

  At five years old I was a batboy for the Baby Ruth baseball team in Aruba and at that time already my father insisted that if I am going to be involved in anything I should know the basics of it. At a very young age I used to sell the local newspaper and when I was 13 years old the Windward Island Opinion came from St. Maarten to my father’s friend so I also distributed and sold that on Aruba. Again my father would query me on articles in that newspaper. “If you are selling those papers you should be able to know some of the headlines in the paper.” Later on I joined the Baseball Umpires Association of St. Maarten and I used to challenge the players to know the baseball rules better that me.

  It is from that premise I rate my Ministers. One of the things that I realized when I was a baseball umpire is that the baseballs that were used in the Major Leagues and many other countries where baseball is played were made in Haiti. That opened my mind and I concluded that if Haiti, a country in the Caribbean, can make something as important to the sport as baseballs, then other things can be made also. I went back to when we were looking forward to get yams from Statia. When they told me that lobster was used here for bait for fish pots my reaction was “and they don’t export them?”

  Why am I writing all of this? Because of the number plate saga. I do not know where Mister Irion was in 2013, I am sure if there was goodwill to serve the people of St. Maarten in the right way, someone should have told him that the results will be just like in 2013. Mr. Tuitt is still alive and there are a lot of NGOs around who if there was goodwill should not have permitted the sale of number plates to go that way.

  And it should not even be necessary for me to write this letter because several times last year I commented on the blunder that the Receiver and the Finance as well as the Justice Ministers made by giving in to the demands of those who were against not putting “The Friendly Island” while putting “50 years of Carnival” on the 2019 plates. They had a whole year to do the thing right, but I believe that “what’s in it for me” again is looming its head. and then to my disgust I have to read that there is a sharp drop in road tax compared to the same period last year.

  Well, let me add this: just like they used statistics from since 2011 to determine the crime rate I believe they should use the figures from 2018 as a comparison to 2019 and 2020.

  Why am I referring to be well versed in the material? As long as I can remember, where to make the number plates has been a point of discussion in the so many governments of St. Maarten, I am sure we also know that Haiti is a possibility, did we really have to go all the way to the Middle East? Now we still do not have any number plates and we have to rely on the cooperation from the insurance companies and the keurings lokaal to help curb the illegal use of motor vehicles on our public roads.

  What the majority of the drivers would say is that the police strike for money so they don’t think the police paid their road tax neither. That is why they do not expect any controls.

  I believe that it is time enough for us to know what is out there on the market, where to get it and what are the pros and cons when we purchase goods abroad. Are we still not aware that we have to be careful in dealing with finances of the people?

  History has proven that it comes back to haunt you.

Russell A. Simmons

By Li Yigang

Recently the epidemic of COVID-19 has caught everyone’s attention. It’s not only a major threat to the safety and health of Chinese people but also a great challenge to global public health security. According to data of the past a few days, the overall situation of China’s epidemic prevention and control continues to improve.

  The growth rate of confirmed COVID-19 cases has slowed down, and most provinces and cities except Hubei have no new cases. However, a few foreign countries are reporting quickly increasing numbers of patients and the Netherlands also has confirmed cases. Moreover, Saint Martin of this region has two cases confirmed days ago, attracting continuous public attention. Here I would like to introduce Dutch Caribbean friends to the situation about China's fight against the epidemic.

1. Be united-as-one to fight against the disease.

  Since the epidemic breakout, the Chinese government has always put people’s lives, safety and health as priority. Under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China has adopted the most comprehensive, rigorous and thorough measures to prevent and control the disease.

  With extraordinary efforts, we have contained its spread momentum and have made great contribution to the world. President Xi Jinping personally chaired a meeting to direct the outbreak response, and called for confidence, unity, science-based approach and targeted response as guidelines for China’s epidemic control efforts.

  The government organizations and relevant institutions are operating efficiently, building up a comprehensive and multi-level control system, including the lockdown of Wuhan city as the key area, the full participation of all government officials in epidemic prevention and control, the cancellation of large-scale public events, the guidance to residents for self-quarantine, the deployment of medical staff and supplies across the country, and the construction and put into use of two specialized hospitals with 2,500 beds within 15 days, etc.

  Aforementioned measures have demonstrated China’s speed and scale during this fight, as well as the strengths of China’s system.

1. Prevent the disease from spreading and live up to the responsibility as a major country.

  China’s efforts to fight against the epidemic and the progress to prevent its spread to other countries have been recognized worldwide. WHO [World Health Organisation – Ed.] Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Munich Security Conference that the steps China took to contain the outbreak at its source have bought the world time, even though those steps have come at greater cost to China, but it’s slowing the spread to the rest of the world.

  China is fighting the outbreak aggressively to protect its own people and the people of the world. UN [United Nations] Secretary-General Mr. António Guterres praised Chinese people’s contribution that they are suffering from daily inconveniences and have given up parts of normal lives. They made sacrifice to contain the spread of the virus and it is great contribution to all mankind.

  Thanks to the concerted efforts of the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country, China has made positive progress in controlling the epidemic. Since mid-February, the number of newly diagnosed cases in China has steadily declined, and the number of cured cases has increased rapidly.

  On February 18, for the first time, the number of cured cases exceeded the number of newly diagnosed. On March 3, 2,652 patients were cured, which was 22 times more than the confirmed patients the same day.

  The figures are inspiring and illustrate that the epidemic is preventable, controllable and the disease curable. There is no reason to panic and we should assess the situation in an objective, rational and scientific way.

  Now the governments at various levels in China are strengthening personnel health management according to local conditions, to prevent the epidemic from rebounding.

III. Work together to win the battle against the epidemic.

  Acting with openness, transparency and a high sense of responsibility, the Chinese authorities shared information of the epidemic with relevant parties in a timely manner.

  We keep close communication with the WHO, the neighbouring and relevant countries, and carry out international cooperation. After two-month epidemic prevention and control, China’s strategy and experience are worth learning from.

  Meanwhile, various countries and international organizations have offered timely sources of help, providing aid supplies to China. The Dutch King, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs have expressed their condolences and support by telegram and letter in succession.

  The Dutch business community donated much-needed medical supplies to China. When I met with leaders of the Curaçao government and officials from its Ministry of Health, I could also feel their support and appreciation of China’s fight against the epidemic.

  The epidemic respects no borders and the fight against it should leave no one behind. I noticed that the Netherlands has taken necessary and reasonable measures for the purpose of strengthening epidemic prevention and control.

  The Dutch Caribbean autonomous countries have also issued health reminders and raised vigilance, to protect the health and safety of their citizens and foreign nationals. So long as these measures are science-based, professional and appropriate, I think people will accept.

  We will uphold the concept of building a community of shared future for mankind and are willing to strengthen communication and collaboration with countries around the world including the Netherlands, as well as the WHO, to enhance the mutual understanding and trust among all parties. The aims are to effectively prevent the transnational spread of the epidemic and maintain regional and global public health security.

  Let’s keep united-as-one, work together and achieve the final victory of combating the COVID-19 epidemic!

  ~ Li Yigang is Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Willemstad. ~

Dear Editor,

  Upon reading the recent joint press conference held by our islands’ representatives, I can’t help but question our PM’s claim that risk of COVID-19 transmission is “very small.”

  During the conference, she only mentions the time the infected couple spent at our airport. In truth, yes, their time there was very short before they were escorted away for testing. However, our leaders forgot to inform us about their voyage from St. Barths to St. Maarten.

  Last I read, this couple was travelling on the Great Bay Express during their return voyage. A simple Google search quickly shows you that this voyage takes approximately 40 minutes. The company also advises passengers to check in 45 minutes before departures. Even ignoring the advice of early check-in time, these two persons were in the close proximity to numerous other passengers on that boat for at least 40 minutes.

  I might not be a scientist, but to my knowledge, 40 minutes is more than sufficient to expose anyone in close proximity to a very contagious virus. Also, depending on where these two persons were seated, there are areas of the boat that are in enclosed areas, further increasing the risks of transmission.

  My question to our health officials is: why is the time spent on this voyage completely ignored? If protocols were being followed, then what happened to the protocol for their voyage from St. Barths to St. Maarten. What has been done to ensure that the passengers on that boat have not been infected?

  According to our PM’s logic, these two infected persons show no signs of the virus infection, therefore their risk of transmission is very low  If that was the case, then why is their son infected? FYI, contrary to our PM’s beliefs, bush tea and ginger tea do not cure the coronavirus. When will our PM and health officials stop playing viral experts and start taking this global epidemic seriously?

Skeptical Resident