Dear Editor,

Joslyn Morton and Koos van K, I must say, you two have been doing a great job keeping this section of the newspaper really entertaining. But Joslyn, you and I are going to become pen pals through this newspaper – if you’re willing after you read this piece I’m writing.

I believe the leader of the PFP, Melissa Gumbs, is an imposter, and that her personal interests will override her professional intentions. Let me elaborate on this.

Throughout MP Melissa Gumbs’ snap election campaign, did you notice she never mentioned on any radio station that she wanted to become the Minister of Education or showed any interest in the position? It’s clear to the people of St. Maarten that her motives are more about bringing Rayon Peterson back into Parliament than anything else. She can and will deny it a million times, but it is what it is.

Joslyn, the people of St. Maarten are not dumb – they get it. MP Melissa Gumbs is just trying to save the ones who started the party with her. This is one of the reasons why there are some dark clouds of suspicion. She has to “stop peeing on our legs and telling us that it is raining” (as you mentioned in your Dear Editor piece from April 15, 2015, Joslyn Morton).

Yes, I agree with you, Joslyn, MP Ludmila de Weever has her flaws, but we can’t act like MP Melissa Gumbs is innocent, especially with her well-honed manipulation tactics. I think this is PFP’s last run. Why? Because the party leader is always lagging behind in numbers, just like in those video games she plays! MP Ludmila de Weever is going to go independent.

Let’s face it, Joslyn, we can say what we want about MP Ludmila de Weever, but thanks to her, the PFP is still relevant, whether through bought votes or not. Where did all those votes for Rayon Peterson come from? During his 4-year term, he didn’t even pass anything in Parliament, and he’s a lawyer – or is he not? Former MP Silvio Matser isn’t going to have his back forever because Silvio also has to support Minister of Finance Mariska Gumbs, just like he did for the snap election.

PFP has been asked many times whether they would implement LGBTQ topics in schools. To this day, MP Melissa Gumbs hasn’t answered – she dances around the question.

MP Melissa Gumbs has been good friends with former Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion for years – the same one you mentioned as “like a little kid still crying for his pacifier” in your January 11, 2024, Dear Editor piece. He is in opposition but still has an influence on how MP Melissa Gumbs votes in Parliament and on decision-making regarding who she should bring into her cabinet. They’re so close that he was even supposed to be on the PFP candidate list when the PFP first started, but because of how he speaks, the decision was made for him to stay with the NA.

Leroy de Weever’s wife was right to call MP Melissa Gumbs a dictator because she is one. The sad part is that MP Melissa Gumbs is very proud of being called that. But she needs to understand that the same mentality is what got her father, Marcel Gumbs, fired on a plane coming back to St. Maarten some years back.

In MP Melissa Gumbs’ first interview with Lady Grace after the snap election, she said she took the Ministry of Education because it needs a manager. She needs to stop – she can’t even manage a group of 12 people. I bet you anything she’s making her “muppet faces” reading this editorial, but I hope she really enjoys being Minister of ECYS because her dream of becoming Prime Minister one day isn’t going to happen. She is not as transparent as she portrays herself to be.

Joslyn, I don’t understand why, if MP Melissa Gumbs made it clear that she believes in continuity, she has now shifted to take the role of Minister of Education. MP Ludmila de Weever was right not to take the position of ECYS – she knows her limitations. The ministry is full of exposed and breached people. You’ve got a department head who’s been on sick leave forever (working from home, whatever you want to call it) yet still collects a stipend of 1,000 guilders just for ink at home. Do you really think they’ll help MP Melissa Gumbs run the ministry the right way? I doubt it.

MP Melissa Gumbs is planning to make number 8 on her PFP candidate list the executive secretary. How can a schoolteacher with a history of issues with parents and students manage the flood of emails that will come into the cabinet? It’s going to be crazy. Good luck with that. She is also putting her cousin Erin in a position who is already working in the Ministry of Education – another dictator, so I’ve heard. But I guess birds of a feather flock together.

Joslyn Morton, you mentioned that “dead weight is a liability that keeps a ministry spinning in circles every single time.” Well, MP Melissa Gumbs’ ECYS cabinet is already looking like that. I believe it’s not going to be any different from how former Minister of Education Rodolphe Samuel ran his cabinet.

We have to stop saying, “I believe in giving people a chance to prove themselves” or “give people the benefit of the doubt.” I strongly disagree. That’s the same mentality NA had with former Minister of Education Samuel, and look where that got the ministry. I think we just need to start calling a spade a spade and stop sugarcoating things, because that old way is not working anymore, and that is why our island is where it is today.

Thank you, Joslyn Morton, for inspiring me to finally start writing to the “Dear Editor” section. It’s been a long time coming.

Mason Rivers

St. Maarten-born

Dear Editor,

In this case “I told you so” could be used, but then I remember that when I started to tell them so, the present TEATT [Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport, and Telecommunication – Ed.] Minister was not born. I could have even used “Better late that never” but that would be leaving all of those who deprived the scholars of St. Maarten from becoming grounded in the essentials of their native land, off the hook. They are all guilty of what I consider an omission offense.

If tourism is the main pillar of your economy, does it take rocket science to know that geography, topography, the geographical position of the country, the weather, languages spoken, customs and morals, etc., should be among the subjects taught in the schools of the country? In this case St. Maarten.

At ten years old when I was in the fifth grade of the Marijke school on Aruba, I knew that Mister Kwartsz was the lieutenant governor of Aruba. I am sure that at the least on three occasions in my letters to you I suggested or advised that Civics and subjects of how our country is run, be added to the curriculum, beginning in the fifth grade.

It does not take a salary of over fifteen thousand to realize that the “Mamoet wet” education system in no kind of way was conducive to an economy of which the pillar is tourism. Any logical thinking person could have realized that the Mulo education of which the languages Dutch, English, French, German and Spanish were part of the curriculum, should have been maintained. I can attest to this, because my knowledge of the German language was and still is a great asset.

I will not mention any names, but over the years, I have approached several prominent political leaders as well as members of both the then Island Council and later as well as members of the Parliament and suggested that they look into the possibility of sending students from the Sundial School to the Bushiri Hotel on Aruba. This hotel was a hotel school at which waiter/waitress/bartending/housekeeping and other subjects related to tourism (hospitality trade) were taught, and for which a passing diploma was issued. When I read that article in the paper of September 26^th, my first reaction was “Only now?” Hopefully this will not be the case with solar energy.

Another point I would like to make is for you to let the people know who their elected officials/leaders in government are, by printing passport pictures of them along with their portfolios.

Crime is not on a rise, crime has been launched and my question is “who should take responsibility for this?” My aunt, my father’s elder sister, used to tell him. “if nothing psychological is wrong with the child, you are responsible for its behavior. Every parent should be aware of Proverbs 22:6.” She used to tell me “no child ain’t dead from licks.”

One of the things that my father used to tell me regularly is that I should not tar everyone with the same brush. I read in the paper that 280 fines were issued by the police, but I continuously see cars with very dark tinted glass and no number plates been driven over the roads of St. Maarten. Not to mention those hundreds of drivers who hold the cell phone in style while driving and talking. I could not verify it but I was told that because of unnecessary accidents, mostly caused as a consequence of the use of the cell phone while driving, some insurance companies have increased certain premiums.

What I have witnessed and called others’ attention to her, was a lady whose car was parked in a space in a parking lot. As she was getting into the car the cell phone rang. She took the phone in her right hand, put it to her left ear and answered it while getting into the car. She got into the car, without changing the phone from one hand to next while the phone remained on her left ear. She juggled her hands between starting the car and keeping the phone by her left ear, while reversing out of the parking space. I said to myself: “Could not that lady have answered that phone before getting into the car?”

Another menace to the traffic is the heavy equipment, but that is another letter, because I am pondering whether to mention the license plate numbers. In the meantime permit me to remind them that the minimum distance between motor vehicles driving in a row behind each other is four meters.

Russell A. Simmons

The attendance of Member of Parliament Gwendell Mercelina, Jr. (PNP) from Curaçao at Prinsjesdag (Prince's Day) and the General Political Debates (Algemene Politieke Beschouwingen) represents a historic milestone. This first-time event, facilitated by Senator Jeroen Recourt (GL-PvdA), received warm recognition from Prince Constantijn—who accompanied me to Antigua for the SIDS 2024 Conference—as well as praise from various Members of Parliament. Governor Lucille George-Wout also expressed her satisfaction with this momentous occasion.

Dear Editor,

There are lots of talks about PFP party leader Melissa Gumbs, who is due to take up the position as Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport. Currently, there are some dark clouds of suspicions, since the population is unaware of her clear-cut decisions – resolutions that could have severe consequences on the lives of children, teachers and parents.

Even though the uncertainty looms, I believe in giving people a chance to prove themselves, once their motives are aligned with the principles that govern their portfolio. While I do have reservations with the appointment, deep within, I still feel that MP Melissa Gumbs would do well, if she recruits a team of professionals to assist her – specialists, who have knowledge of the subdivisions of her prospective ministry.

Repeatedly, a ministry becomes stagnant because the minister tends to hire persons who ran on a list, or friends and even family members. No minister is obligated to bear the burden of selecting any candidate to be part of his or her office team. More often than not, it has been proven that many candidates turned out to be nothing but dead weight. This liability is what keeps a ministry spinning in circles, every single time.

While she is waiting to be appointed, now is a good time for MP Melissa Gumbs to use her managerial skills to envision the positive changes that she wishes to see, during the first year of her ministerial position, and then extends her vision, as she assesses her objectives and challenges. These constructive changes may include maintaining direct and constant interaction with the managers of all divisions; not forgetting the voices of the people.

This systematic approach would help her to maintain the awareness of the many successes and challenges within her ministry. Then, it will become easier to prioritize areas of concerns that need upgrading, in order to achieve continuous progress. It also gives the opportunity to combat the growing challenges that have kept educators frustrated for years.

For instance, educators have been complaining about the lack of materials to work with and the bureaucracy inside the ministry to obtain these resources. It may be a good idea to look at the entire structure of how to acquire these materials, identify the bottlenecks, and then seek ways to counteract this problem.

MP Melissa Gumbs has chosen a very interesting ministry, where she will be responsible for shaping the lives of the entire community, through education, culture and sports. Therefore, I sincerely hope that she would use wisdom, and stick to her professional duties, and do not introduce this destructive woke ideology in the schools.

If she does, this will be the end of her political career, and this move will cause an uprising for sure. Family values are still very prevalent on the island and parents will go to all length to protect these morals, even if it means closing down every single school on Dutch St. Maarten.

Joslyn Morton