Dear Editor,

Please permit me to express my views as a young person who is into research and understanding the dynamics of politics. I learned that unlike Aruba and Curaçao, St. Maarten did not make the number of seats in Parliament match that of their former Island Council upon attaining an autonomous status within the Kingdom of the Netherlands on October 10, 2010.

Unlike Aruba and Curaçao which consisted of 21 Island Council members, St. Maarten had a total of 11 Island Council members, but chose instead to have a parliament of 15 seats based on the population size. An 11-seat parliament would have been extremely hard for new parties to reach the seat quota which is the total of valid votes divided by available seats. This link between the size of Parliament and the size of the population can be seen in Article 8 of the Dutch Municipalities Act, which states: “The size of the Municipal Council is determined by the population of the municipality”.

Article 45 in our Constitution also clearly states that Parliament will consist of 15 members if the population is 60,000 or less, but it will be increased to 17 members if the population is more than 60,000. Article 45 further states that “An increase or reduction in the number of Members of Parliament arising from a change in the population of the country first takes effect on the next regular election of Parliament.”

In June 2010, St. Maarten had a total number of 53,653 registered inhabitants; therefore, it satisfied Article 45 of the Constitution. But recent updates show that St. Maarten now has a total of 61,723 registered inhabitants. Based on Article 45 of our Constitution and Article 8 of the Dutch Municipalities Act, our parliament should increase by two members at the next “regular” elections, bringing it to 17.

So I would like to know if this increase in the number of seats in Parliament will take place after this election or will it be overlooked because of snap elections?

Article 59 of the Constitution instructs that a new parliament must be in place within three months after the dissolution of Parliament on September 23, 2019; hence the initial date for Parliamentary elections being November 25. This would have seen a new Parliament installed by December 23, 2019.

Since, according to the former prime minister, there is a lack of alignment between the electoral law and Article 59 of the Constitution, the elections date of November 25 has been thrown out with a new one set for January 2020.

At this point, we the people of St. Maarten need an interpretation of the word “regular” from the architects of our Constitution as we move forward in electing the 10^th Parliament in as many years. Do we stick to 15 seats or has the time come for us to increase by two?

Omar Ottley

Dear Editor,

  I am calling on all citizens from commonwealth of Dominica to vote and give Skerrit their full support and re-elect his party to govern Commonwealth of Dominica in this coming election.

  The Bannis generation keeps calling on the Commonwealth Dominica government to change the name of Dominica, because the territory’s name is too close to Dominican Republic.

  And (I quote) it’s time Dominica has its own international airport (Hon. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit).

Cuthbert Bannis 

Dear Editor,

  Now grant me the pleasure of indulging us St. Maarteners that in Aruba funny stuff happens too. This inspired innovative individual managed a sincere portrayal of grief and in such found me.

  Up he walked to my bar today, carrying a heavy tome of important-looking data, claiming to a meeting with my boss for a long-promised donation intended for his dying-of-a-hole-in-the-heart granddaughter. Now strange really, whose boss is ever around on a Sunday? However, being boring as this Sunday was I lent an ear and heard such, along I played.

  Him claiming because of the party in government, the MEP, in Aruba, they decided not to give his granddaughter any AZV insurance for a life-saving operation abroad solely because he was from the opposing party the AVP.

  Wow, okay, on he went how everyone knew him and how he found God after addiction issues and was sent now as a messenger to help his granddaughter.

  Still no clients in, boring day as I mentioned, I asked further. Out came the phone video with a toddler in a wheel-walking kiddy thingy, cute as a button, obviously ill though.

  However, he didn’t have time to hide the headline. This was a sick kid in Atlanta. I had seen the video before. Feeding the story, I said, “Sorry I don’t have any money, but come tomorrow, call my boss for a meeting or talk to his wife.”

“How much is a glass of Merlot?” he suddenly asked. “Well, sir, it is $6, great wine, good price,” I answered. “Ok I’ll have one and deduct it from the donation your boss will give me tomorrow.”

  I’m so not kidding you!

  I sent him to the Chinee and told him they had little Merlot bottles for Aruba florins 4.50. He happily replied, “I know I go there all the time,”

  A great laugh on a boring Sunday!

M.I.A. Roos

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