Dear Editor,
With the intervention in February 2018 a kingdom commissioner was appointed who, with the acting kingdom commissioner, took the place of island council, executive council and the governor. A handpicked community council is used as a kind of sounding board when there is a need for it.
When the kingdom commissioner started his work supported by several Dutch civil servants, it became clear that the problems were much more severe than one at first instance thought. The (financial) administration was a mess, the civil service was generally not sufficiently qualified and up to their task and there was a severe backlog in the infrastructure.
Some of this could be attributed to the previous government, but state-secretary Knops acknowledged that most problems dated from long before. According to the state-secretary, however, the consecutive governments in the past had a feeling of powerlessness because they believed that with the available budget, they could not improve the situation.
This is an assumption that is not based on historic facts. It is a well-known fact that for decades there was an inadequate budget. In order to avoid its responsibility, prior to 10-10-10 the Antillean parliament for many years had neglected its responsibility to approve these budgets. Due to the non-existence of social benefits, to still allow for people at least a small income, subsequent Statia governments saw no other option than to employ workers, as such increasing the burden on the budget. A situation that exists until today.
Many times, large chunks of the budget were consumed to pay for expensive healthcare bills for treatment of Statians with cancer or who suffered a stroke or heart attack. There was no healthcare insurance as we have today. Healthcare cost of civil servants and their families was carried by government. Also, other Statians who were uninsured and without means, the so-called PP card holders, turned to the government for assistance.
So, for decades, there was no money to pay for decent salaries, resulting in a civil service that was not adequately equipped for their task. So, there was no money to pay for the maintenance and construction of roads. So, there was no money to pay for adequate housing for the civil service. And contrary to an average municipality, our government also is responsible for an airport, a harbor, a hospital and five different schools.
It wasn’t that the subsequent governments believed that the budget did not allow them to improve the situation as the state-secretary suggests. It was a well-known fact that the budget was for many years by far insufficient to do so and huge backlogs in all areas were the result.
And what hurts me, and many others, is that after 10-10-10 this situation continued. The warning in the first Ideeversa report that with the establishment of the free allowance these backlogs were not taken into consideration was ignored. In their second report Ideeversa concluded that the free allowance was about 25 per cent too low for the local government to carry out its responsibilities. The Spies report and even the report of the Committee of Wise Men both signaled a similar sentiment. All these reports were ignored.
Many Statia governments in the past pointed out the lack of adequate funds in vain, before and after 10-10-10. After the intervention whereby the responsibility now lies by BZK, it is recognized (not believed) that indeed it costs tens of millions to fix all the problems. Even the kingdom commissioner mentioned in his letter with the budget for 2019 that he only was able to balance the budget by leaving out several necessary expenditures, as such creating yet a new backlog. And still the national budget for 2020 does not include extra moneys for the free allowance.
I agree with Commissioner Elvis Tjin Asjoe from Bonaire where he states that the national government made adequate funding available for the tasks that are their own responsibility but up to now, they do not make enough funds available for the local governments to carry out their duties.
We all want good government but remember, good government cannot succeed without sufficient funds.
Koos Sneek
Democratic Party St. Eustatius
Dear Editor,
Everyone has a purpose, and that purpose is simply to love, laugh and to live a happy, fulfilled life. It is to be useful, to give others your kindness, compassion, to give others your best and leaving a legacy of pushing others to grow, develop our mind and spirit.
Addy was born with a gift to make an impact on people’s lives. I can publicly say Addy has had an impact on my life, of teaching my person how to live, laugh and love life through entertainment and music after a long day of work. In life, we need to work to live and not live to work.
I remember Addy working at Risdon’s in Philipsburg and having his own restaurant (opposite St. Peters Gas Station) which served the best local food and burgers on the island. Addy took pride in making his food and loved to entertain his customers.
I used to go almost every Saturday to Addy’s restaurant just to eat some good local dishes and tasty hamburgers, and to listen to Addy entertain his customers with laughter. I would go around 9am and leave Addy’s restaurant after 3pm. We will miss Addy’s entertainment, food, jokes and sharing life experiences.
After a long week of work, I used to go every other Friday night to listen to Addy entertain the tourists and locals at Gingerbread Café locally owned by Ruphus Ollivierre at Belair Beach Hotel. I loved going over and enjoying the fresh breeze, while listening and dancing to our talented Addy Richardson as he croons famous ”Oldie Goldies”, complimented by the sounds of dining by the beach.
Addy made you feel at home as one family at Gingerbread Café with DJ Ras. Addy always recognized my presence by playing my favourite zouk music. We would talk for hours about family and encouraged each other as St. Maarteners.
In closing, Addy Richardson will be dearly missed by my person and especially the seniors who he adored and entertained for years. Addy was a God-fearing person who believed in God.
I thank God for Addy’s impact on my life and teaching me how to love, laugh and live a happy and fulfilled life. May his soul rest in peace and let his legacy live on forever.
Maurice Lake
Dear Editor,
Why are the residents of Dutch Quarter treated as though we pay less or no road taxes? The top layer of asphalt was removed from the main road I believe approximately nine years ago. This was when the drainage system and sidewalks were done.
They began to work on the underground cabling this year, and now the road once again is left in an even worse state – piles of dirt in areas, making it a one-way; entire parts missing where you are driving on dirt; potholes that swallow your tires.
The working-class people in this area are too busy to make an official complaint, so I am doing just that. I am officially complaining! Finish what you started! Public Works is not starting a project using our taxes and then leaving the people to endure such injustice.
You would never see such deplorable roads in the “upscale” areas. We deserve good roads too!
Name withheld at author's request.
Dear Editor,
Yesterday it was announced that a new Antillean currency will be introduced by the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, replacing the current Antillean Guilder in 2021. This measure is and execution of a 'decision in principle' already taken in 2010 (source: website radio station Dolfijn FM from Curaçao and Bonaire, www.dolfijnfm.com, October 15th, 2019).
The question, however, is if the world 10 years after this 'decision in principle' is still the same, justifying such an investment (because the introduction and change of the currency is a costly operation). It determines us to ask ourselves how the financial world nowadays is compared to 10 years ago, what the financial developments and circumstances are now and might be in the future, in the Caribbean and neighbouring regions. Is a new currency still the best option?
At least this is – again - a moment to reflect, evaluate and analyse the pros and cons related to other options. One option is just to quit fully with local currency, for example by just dollarize. I wrote about that already several times in earlier letters to the editor in The Daily Herald some months ago. In that perspective, somebody sent me the interesting text below, published July 15th, 2019 at www.stlucianewsonline.com. It can be used as tool to start thinking about the future; therefore, I publish it integral below
“The former governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, (CBB), Dr. Delisle Worrell, is urging regional countries to seriously consider using the United States dollar as their national currency, after initially arguing that Caribbean currencies served a crucial purpose when they were first introduced, but they have now become a nuisance in today’s digitized world.
Writing in the July edition of his Monthly Economic Newsletters, the economist said the one question which always surfaces in response to his call to retire all Caribbean currencies is about national sovereignty. “Most people seem to believe that sovereignty is “lost” with the retirement of the local currency. On the contrary, replacing domestic currency and deposits with US currency and deposits gives everyone in the country wider access to goods and services. “With domestic currency you can buy only local goods and services; with US dollars you can purchase from anywhere in the world, wherever you can get the best value for your money,” Worrell wrote, adding that the fact of the matter is that the US dollar is sovereign in international transactions “and there is nothing than can be done about that”.
He said even China, the world’s second largest economy, with 15 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP) to the US’s 24 per cent, accepts payments in US dollars. “A Jamaican travelling to Haiti, a Guyanese to Suriname, a Dominican to Guadeloupe, a Trinidadian to Barbados, all take US dollars with them. All hotel rates and oil and commodity prices are quoted in US dollars.
“Ironically, having a domestic currency in today’s digital world may make a country more susceptible to US sanctions than a fully dollarized country would be,” he said, arguing that Washington’s sanctions against Cuba and Iran “are effective because Cubans and Iranians earn in a local currency whose value continues to fall because the country’s access to US dollars is limited. “The US reaps tremendous benefit from the fact that its currency is in universal use. Countries which have their own currencies all maintain a reserve of foreign exchange at their central banks with which to protect the value of domestic money. Those reserves are mostly held in US treasury securities, and constitute a loan to the US government.
“However, a country like Panama which has no currency of its own does not have that problem,” he noted. “The bottom line is that rather than impairing national sovereignty, replacing the domestic currency empowers the country and its citizens by giving access to the world’s goods and services, to the full extent of their incomes. Moreover, the country has no need to offer credit to the world’s wealthiest nation, in order to maintain the value of domestic financial assets.”
Earlier, Worrell had said Caribbean currencies should be replaced because the present world of commerce and finance bears no resemblance to the world for which Caribbean currencies were devised. “Up until the 1960s in most Caribbean countries, all retail transactions and many wholesale transactions were settled with notes and coins. The means of payment were always scarce in those days, because our countries are so distant from the European capitals that issued the world’s major currencies.” He said nowadays, currency notes and coin, mostly of uncertain value in terms of purchasing power of the everyday goods and services countries need to source abroad, are little used domestically.
“Mostly we use electronic transfers, cheques and credit cards. Since these are all computer records, it is immaterial how they are denominated, so long as both ends of every transaction match. There is no reason to link the denomination of the electronic transactions to the value of notes and coins.” He said replacing the Barbados dollar with the US dollar for all transactions, domestic and foreign, enhances the range of choice open to the country and its residents, in all international commerce. International transactions are conducted in US dollars or in currencies that are convertible to US dollars.
In contrast, with Barbados dollars you cannot buy or sell anything outside of Barbados, not even in nearby St. Lucia, much less in the rest of the world. The GDP of Barbados in 2018 was about US $5 billion, but the country had access to less than US $3 billion of international goods and services, because that was the total availability of US dollars and other foreign exchange from exports, tourism and other services, and foreign financial inflows.” (end quoted text)
Note that I am not saying dollarization is a must, because besides pros, there are also some cons to it, but again, please decision makers, use the current and foreseeable financial developments to rethink the earlier 'decision in principle' from 2010 and discuss critically if a new currency really is a sustainable measure. Now is the time to set a future proof course in favour of the development of Sint Maarten.
G.B. van der Leest
Dear Editor,
Ensuring that democratic freedoms embedded in our Constitution can be enjoyed by every single voter on our beautiful island is imperative. There is no justification whatsoever to allow anyone, regardless of their appointed or elected positions, to take our democracy and its processes hostage.
