Dear Editor,
Last week a letter to the editor was placed in the Daily Herald of April 5 about the exchange rate of the Antillean guilder against the US dollar. The header stated: “Consider and decide asap.”
After that, people asked me several times the last days to explain more in detail what happened in Suriname the last years regarding their currency, the Surinam dollar (SDR), also – as in our case – being connected to the US dollar, so here comes some extra information on request.
The Central Bank of Suriname has maintained a fixed exchange rate with the US dollar for a long time. Until February 2011, the exchange rate was set at a rate of SRD 2.70 per one US dollar. Later an exchange rate of 3.30 SRD per dollar was sought. In November 2015, the SRD devalued by 20 per cent and the official exchange rate was 3.96 SRD per USD. At that time, around 4.30 SRD for a US dollar was already counted on the black market.
On 7 February 2016, the central bank announced that the currency was being disconnected. This measure was taken in connection with the falling revenues from oil and gold and the large expenditures by the Surinamese government, as a result of which the demand for the US dollar became relatively large and the value of the Surinamese dollar too low. Between November 2015 and March 2016, the rate of the SRD fell by 40 per cent to 5.7 SRD per dollar. (Source text: Wikipedia, April 2019)
The SRD was linked to the US dollar because many imported goods are paid for with the US currency. The link prevented sudden price fluctuations for the Surinamese consumer.
Surinamese consumers pay for their products with Surinamese money, but the traders have to exchange the SRDs for US dollars to be able to buy the goods. They exchange the money at the banks, which in turn buy their dollars at the Central Bank.
Oil and gold were the main sources of currency for the Surinamese government, but due to the decreasing world market prices, these sources dried up quickly. In addition, the first Bouterse government has handled money from the treasury very generously, so that much more government spending has been made than was justified. The US dollar became more and more expensive on the black market. The result: large price increases.
The Central Bank of Suriname has intervened many times over the past years to somewhat curb the rate of the Surinamese currency. The bank did that by selling US dollars to the market. In this way, almost half of the currency reserve of Suriname was rushed through in 2015.
Earlier, economists had warned that a persistent holding on to the link between SDR and US dollar would lead to a drying up of the cash reserve in hard currency. “By stubbornly sticking to the link, aren’t we flushing our last currencies through the sewer?” wondered Waddy Sowma of the Association of Economists in Suriname (VES). (Source text: NOS.nl, 2016)
Now, the exchange rate is at the moment SRD 7.42 per US dollar!
A new devaluation of the Surinamese currency in the run-up to 2020 is unavoidable if the case is to be tackled cheaply, according to Asiskumar Gajadien, member of Parliament, and member of the parliament committee on state spending, in Dagblad Suriname, July 1, 2018.
Has this anything to do with St. Maarten? I elucidated it in the first article from last week that it might, if Curaçao and (to a lesser extent) St. Maarten are not succeeding to get the economy and the related finances in some harmony soon. Let us not wait, please, until the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten will let us know that problems might be showing up, because then it might probably be a little late.
Geert van der Leest
Dear Editor,
No time to sugar-coat this issue. Time to ban scooters. Simple solution. I see no other option. The law cannot handle these suicides/murders, correct? So, ban them!
When scooters have proven to be more detrimental to society than handguns, it’s the simplest answer.
Let’s break this down, Dutch-side police are only interested on the level of tint on your car window. Call them about an important issue and unless you are a friend or family, they do not respond, or they laugh at you and will taunt you for life! Personal experience.
They act on a pick-and-choose response. Like the Fire Department – they issue fire warnings, yet, if you call them about a fire, I can assure you they will not respond. Again, pick-and-choose response only.
French side, Gibbs and Patrick, no care in the world. Heads in clouds, or maybe stuck in the sand? When a scooter kills one of their daughters, we will hear the cries. Until then … crickets.
When an official from the Dutch side or French side has been affected by one of these scooters, that is when we will see rapid change. Until such time, we are all at risk of being killed instantly by one of these irresponsible drivers. Russian roulette driving through French Quarter.
Two lives lost in one day on scooters. Are we to mourn the lives lost or thank the Lord that the irresponsible drivers of those scooters did not kill innocent bystanders as they recklessly rode around, carefree.
Should we feel sad for them? Personally, I don’t. I feel as though my family survived being murdered by them. Everyone reading this should also feel grateful to be alive, that you nor your family was hit by a selfish person on a scooter.
If we cannot ban the scooters, let’s shame them. Uneducated individuals acting in such a manner on a scooter with no helmet, driving at high speeds, cutting off every vehicle in sight – that is a weapon. No better than a gun! You fell? You hit a truck? You died? Sorry for you. Thankfully, though, my family was spared from your stupidity! RIP
Marie
Surname withheld at author's request.
Dear Editor,
I read with much interest, a letter written by James Finies, the President of the “We Want Bonaire Back Foundation,” which appeared in the online news magazine “Caribbean News Now.” This letter highlighted a growing trend that’s been happening in the Dutch Caribbean islands of Statia and Bonaire.
Dear Editor,
This article is rated G for general audience. My article is not about supporting color or about wanting people to agree with me. It is about being real to ourselves. I want people to stop deceiving themselves and accept truth as it is, not what you will like it to be.
1 Corinthians 11:28-31 (KJV)
28: But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29: For him that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
30: For this cause, many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
31: For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
For the last 50 years, politicians of St. Maarten were leading this country and were in charge of St. Maarten’s destiny. Our electorate voted for these people, knowing that their values and intent were not in St. Maarten’s best interest, and all of our wrong choices are now Holland’s fault.
Did Holland allow illegal immigration in St. Maarten? Did Holland institute the pondfill dump? Did Holland force St. Maarten people to sell their land? Did Holland force our parliamentarians not to recognize the people of St. Maarten Heritage in the St. Maarten constitution? Did Holland force our St. Maarten government not to fix our roads? Did Holland control GEBE, did Holland control TelEm, did Holland control the Harbor? Did Holland push and promote prostitution in St. Maarten? Did Holland put a gun to our politicians’ heads and say, “Destroy St. Maarten for me”?
It was our own elected government officials.
I am not defending Holland. We know Holland is corrupt also. What I am saying is: 99 per cent of St. Maarten’s challenges is ourselves for making the wrong choices.
Stop blaming others for your faults. Examine yourself and do the right thing. Expecting a man to pay repatriations does not change your conduct. The individual must be willing to do what is right. We must say “no” to wrong before we can say “yes” to right.
Education is good, but that does not mean you’re honest and of a good character. The heart of man must change for the righteousness to establish in St. Maarten.
The conclusion is, we must examine ourselves. What does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul? Choices have consequences. Do the right thing all of the time and always examine yourself.
The Patriot Miguel Arrindell
Dear Editor,
Allow me to communicate my views to the Minister of ECYS [Education, Culture, Youth and Sports – Ed.] Wycliffe Smith, with the optimism that he will redeploy his strategies towards the running of this very important ministry.
