Dear Sir,

  The last few years have seen on St. Maarten  the rise of substantial anti-“Dutch” rhetoric and many will be asking why this has arisen so suddenly and strongly.

  The “Dutch” that are targeted are typically not individual Dutch metropolitan people nor specific Dutch institutions as much as the Kingdom and Netherlands government as a whole.

  It would appear to me that the sentiment is particularly strong in the political class and particularly amongst the younger and politically aspirant groups. It would appear that conditions placed on aid and support are what angers this group the most. It is often used as an explanation in relation to the failure in St. Maarten of good governance and political stability.

  The man in the street and particularly  the large part of the population that originate from economic migration in recent years  are less concerned with Dutch administration impositions.

  On the other side of the ocean the ex-colonial power claims the intention of the limitations on aid being for the purpose of improving this governance particularly insofar as it is caused by corruption. There are suggestions by parties on both sides of the ocean that considerable political decision-making is driven by forces operating in the shadows whose interests are in conflict with good administration and integrity.

  Whilst in the face of the opposing claims and intentions there ought to be some common purpose between the extremes in the discussion on the relation between the Netherlands and Kingdom partner, in the conversation that is ongoing in St. Maarten it cannot be found presently. It appears that there are few political groups that find it strategic to support “the Dutch”.

  The complex Kingdom arrangement that St. Maarten is part of has not changed much in recent years and there has not been any recent loss of autonomy. The major issues in the St. Maarten society like cost of living, waste management, deficit management and infrastructure investment do not directly relate to the limitations that the Kingdom arrangements impose. What has changed is a large growth in social media use and the expression of views that were previously not facilitated. What has also changed is an increase in prosecution of financial crimes by the Dutch-managed prosecution services.

  The Dutch government does not meet the charges in the media where they are made, so the conversation on island is one-sided. But many residents of the island would be pleased to understand the phenomenon and be assured that they are hearing all the views and nuances of these issues.

Robbie Ferron

I want to be an MP, I need to get into Parliament

So vote for me, Mum and Dad, brothers and sisters, uncle and aunt.

I need that five-figure salary and to work when I want.

No degree necessary, experience you don’t need.

Just a fancy suit is all it takes to succeed.

Don’t need a philosophy, I ain’t  liberal or democrat,

Labor or Conservative , I ain’t business with that.

Just find me a party who will put me on the list

So when I get in, I know who to block, and who to assist.

Going to feather my nest and damn all the rest.

It’s like winning the lottery when you get in here,

Think what you want, I really don’t care.

I don’t  lose too much sleep if my promise failed as the solution.

I’ll just dust it off, and present it again for the next election.

And when things get rough and I don’t get what I’m due.

There is a little trick we politicians use, and I’ll give you a clue.

You make your demand and if they give you the slip

Make a public apology and jump to the next ship.

Name withheld at author’s request.

Dear Editor,

  When I was a little boy growing up in the Village in San Nicolas on Aruba, the older boys who were already working someplace would give us a matinee ticket or money for ice cream or whatever to do them a favor and carry a note for a certain girl. One time when my mother questioned me about the money that I told her I had to go to a matinee, and I told her, I got licks and a good tongue lashing.

  She told me that getting money for doing favors is not the same as working for money and that even though the word favor is positive, I should always find out what the favor is about, because doing favors for someone could be doing something for that person that he/she is not allowed to do. Finding out why that person can’t do certain things themselves is not a bad thing. As I grew older I realized that even though the word is positive, doing favors does not always have positive intentions.

  I am writing this as a consequence of a post on the social media which is circulating these days. When I joined the [ police – Ed.] force the minimum education required was MULO diploma, LTS diploma and the necessary qualifying tests. An impeccable behavior and the rest of your family as well as your living environment was also scrutinized.

  Even though we have compulsory education, our constitution does not exact a minimum education required to be elected into government. A minimum age, but not a minimum education. Consequently, any political party can go around and look for whomever they think can bring along votes with them and have them postulate themselves on the political party’s list. We will take care of the rest.

  What is going around on social media these days is a list of those who since 2010 have received and are still receiving redundancy pay. One of the reasons stated by those who are involved in the forming of whatever kind of government we are going to have now was that nothing is being done correctly by the present government.

  I started from scratch as a young man and worked for government until I retired. We of the police force of St. Maarten were reminded several times by Prime Minister Don Martina that we were not allowed to have any other monetary income than that of the police force.

  Everybody knows what happens to their salaries when government employees retire, including MP [Member of Parliament] William Marlin. Can someone of whom no kind of education is required and just by being able to acquire enough votes to be elected to government and in so doing is grossly overpaid be compared to someone who worked for government 30- and 40-odd years and because of retirement their salary is suddenly cut in half as it were. Is not that person who worked more than half their age for government more entitled to a redundancy pay?

  MP Marlin was involved in, if not responsible for that redundancy pay sham. The population should try to get hold of that post on the social media and make a judgement. There is the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment or clearing a debt, but there is also the action of saving or being saved from sin, error or evil. What I would suggest is that we should try to avoid having to be redeemed.

  Now that MP Marlin again is in the thick of things maybe he can advise his colleagues that it is better to not to have to be redeemed and do right by that redundancy pay. When I look at that redundancy pay it reminds me of what my mother always let me know: “Money not earned well will not spend well.”

  What actually should happen is that those people on that list who have received or who are still receiving, look for some charity and give it to them. Their names are on the list and sooner or later everybody is going to know whether you received or are still receiving.

  Forget those who brought that law, what about they themselves, do not they have a guilty conscience? Can we suggest abolishing that law, or apply the same to those who will be retiring and their income suddenly cut in half.

  A person who never worked, was grossly overpaid for four years just to show up and say for or against, goes home with two years redundancy pay equaling at least 10 times the minimum wage. Wow.

  Government just received a price list to avoid price-gouging. Which means that government is aware of what is happening in the businesses. But government is also aware that the same is happening in the supermarkets. Every time a box comes out of the same container the price of the goods go up with at least ten cents. Supermarket cashiers not closing the cash registers to avoid them registering on a constant basis. No control on expired goods and the same people are being taxed year in year out while thousands are getting away.

  When something is said about it the workman shows you on his payslip where the tax was deducted, but the taxman is complaining that no tax is coming in. If that is the case should we conclude that only those who government has direct control over are being taxed and that business-owners are withholding the taxes paid by their employees from government?

Russell A. Simmons

Dear Editor,

  St. Maarten was under the Netherland Antilles before 2010 and it was always Curaçao’s fault. After 2010 St. Maarten was given more autonomy and allowed to have their own parliament. The governments from then until now create about 900 million guilders in debt but people are mad at Holland.

  This does not mean that I want Holland to take over. It means the electorate along with the past government is responsible for our own demise. This is proof of what happens when ideology was never established in politics. The result is running for running’s sake without an objective and a mission or goal to achieve.

  It is our own fault. Let’s correct it and accept responsibility and stop blaming Holland.

  St. Maarten has an electorate I do not understand. They call our politicians corrupt but continue to vote for them. When they break the law we go out and defend them. What the hell do you (electorate of St. Maarten) people want?

  Again, that is because the electorate does not know what they stand for. Everything our politicians do wrong is Holland’s fault.

  Up to now, I did not see one Dutch European in our Parliament. I never see Holland throw down St. Maarten’s government.

  So please, electorate of St. Maarten, if you cannot identify the problem you cannot solve it. The problem is the electorate and the people we vote for. It is us who put ourselves in this position. Denying the facts only will make matters worse.

  There is a movement of people with ulterior motives, they are playing with this country. It involves playing the race card. Take the focus off of electorate and politicians and blame Holland; that way we would get people living in St. Maarten motivated to hate Holland, so much so a referendum for independence to foster.

  Most people of St. Maarten even do not understand how our democracy works. I wonder how they will understand how politicians who bankrupt this country will take them to independence.

  The Dutch politicians are playing their part too because they are challenging the movement to promote independence because they know the majority of the electorate see now our politicians have failed and it will strengthen Holland’s hand.

  The solution: we must clean up our mess we create, because if Holland does it they surely will help themselves and that is why all political parties should sign a contract and a pledge to St. Maarten.

  Very importantly, ideology must be established to see who has the best approach to fix this mess we put ourselves in.

  Warning: if we fail to fix our mess, by legality and default Holland has the right to fix it as they see best.

  Choices have consequences. Choose wisely.

The Patriot Miguel Arrindell