Dear Editor,
When one’s heart is severely broken, and he or she lacks the proper guidance to remain positively motivated, the situation can be very lonely and extremely challenging. For more than a month, this reality has manifested itself intensely, as the population listens in awe to the aggrieved spouse of MP Theo Heyliger.
The mixed reactions to Mrs. Heyliger’s mode of expression can be justified. However, when the dust is settled and self-evaluation kicks in, would she be contented with the results? Just as troubling is the group that she chooses to associate herself with, during this difficult family upheaval – the same group that is consistently plotting to throw down the current administration, just to get back in power.
What Mrs. Heyliger does not realise is that this group’s agenda and hers are completely different. Right now, she has entered their den, which appears to be a place of refuge; but when she gets comfortable, they will devour her like hungry lions and then leave the carcass in the desert to rot. Since this group is enshrined in moral principles, would Mrs. Heyliger be so kind to inform the people of the transaction that was proposed, in exchange for her public disclosure of events?
Be aware! No one who claims to love this country will damage it with destructive propaganda, just to be popular. If Mrs. Heyliger is unsure of one’s true character, she needs to examine the past and current behavioural patterns of any individual, and she will get a clear picture of his or her future conduct. People do not change! They skilfully adapt to circumstances, just to fulfil their concealed motives.
It is important to note that at age five, 80 per cent of one’s perception of the world is already formed. This outlook on life is based on a person’s environment and the values that he or she chooses to embrace. Here is a quote that I cherish a lot: “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.”
If I were in your position, I would have consulted the spouses of those who were in similar positions and learn how they have utilised their strengths to overcome these personal challenges. As far as I can recall, none of them came to the airwaves and embarrassed themselves, nor have they allowed others with ulterior motives to capitalise on their weaknesses.
As a professed Christian, what better way to test your faith than to consult the God of the universe – the One who can restore your strength and courage to face one day at a time. Remember, there are moments when “Silence is a source of great strength.” And, “When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.” Which will you choose?
Joslyn Morton
Dear Editor,
The front man for the opposition party of Statia, Mr. Sneek must have been so obsessed with fighting for Statia’s representation with 0 seats in the Dutch Senate, that he misunderstood what I meant with the title of my previous article “Be careful what you wish for”.
Contrary to what Sneek wanted to read into that title, the title was addressed to him and the little sister opposition party he represents, and not the voters of Statia. The voters of Statia have proven once again to be very well-informed and wise. So, a day after proving that they are, they certainly didn’t need my advice in the form of an article.
No, the title of my article was pointing out that supporting, promoting, and participating in the nonsensical elections for the Electoral Council on March 20, would backfire on the opposition party. And that’s exactly what it did.
Despite Sneek’s attempt to confuse people with his “voodoo mathematics” interpretation of the actual statistics I provided, losing 21% of his party’s voters is not progress by any stretch of the imagination, nor anything to be proud of. Nobody disputes that it’s better than not getting any votes at all. But as a politician, Sneek should know very well that in elections, even retaining the number of votes is considered a setback for any party or candidate.
Losing that percentage of votes when no other party participates and only five candidates participate, more than offsets Sneek’s predictable and flimsy excuse that the elections were not “well-known” to the public. And even if they weren’t, that would have been another failure on the part of the opposition party and its big sister party’s Mr. Knops.
But let’s take a closer look at the 374 votes secured by the opposition party. Of those, 150 votes, or nearly half, turned out to be proxy votes. Not only does this prove the hypocrisy of the opposition party, and its front man, it also raises the question if any laws were broken in securing these proxy votes.
According to sources on Facebook which were not contradicted by him, Sneek stated the following in the aftermath of the 2015 Island Council elections: “The governor writes that it was observed that all parties and groups made use of the provision of proxy voting. The provision of proxy voting is to be used by the voter not by the political party. So, in fact he admits the misuse. The use by parties is in conflict with the law. Besides buying votes, also soliciting votes is against the law. This means asking you for your proxy is against the law.”
Having to depend on 40% proxy votes to scrape their way to 21% less votes compared to four years ago, makes the showing of the opposition party at the polls on March 20 even more of a fiasco. And, unfortunately for its front man, it makes the title of my previous article even more applicable to his little sister opposition party.
Based on his statement in 2015, I will be looking forward to Sneek’s public request for an investigation to establish if each and every single one of the 150 proxy votes cast for his party on March 20 was obtained voluntarily and without solicitation.
Clyde I. van Putten
Island Council Member
Leader, Progressive Labour Party, St. Eustatius
Dear Editor,
A sour, self-proclaimed leader of government (SPLOG) advised the people of Statia in the paper of March 22nd to be careful what they wish for. I do believe that this is a well needed advice. I would like to add an additional advice and that is, also not to simply accept all statements that are presented to you as fact, but to seriously do research and form your own opinion.
He qualifies the elections of a body that is responsible to elect one of the highest institutions of our nation as nonsensical. If one takes this qualification down the hierarchy of the institutions of our country then not much respect will be left over for municipality and island council elections.
I take this opportunity to thank him wholeheartedly for the statistics provided and the comparison with the outcome of the island council elections of 2015. The total number of eligible voters compared to the 2015 island council elections was 23 per cent lower last Wednesday. The number of eligible voters who cast their vote last Wednesday on the DP was only 21 per cent lower than in 2015. And we all know that non-Dutch nationals were excluded from these elections. He calls this a loss of support, while in fact he proves that it is actually a gain. In this largely unknown election for the electoral college, boycotted by all other parties and without simultaneous island council elections held, the DP managed to get percentual more support than even in the last island council elections.
The title the earlier mentioned individual signs his letter with is “Island Council Member”. I guess that everyone is aware that by law the island council of St. Eustatius, he claims to be a member of has been dissolved due to his doings on February 7, 2018. This means that there are since that date no longer island council members. But even when following his irrational line of reasoning, he is no longer an island council member. When he was sworn in in 2015, he was sworn in for a period of four years. This period of four years in the meantime has expired.
My advice to him is not to put himself in the same category as the president of the United States, who will remain with that title until the day he dies. In our democratic system not even the King keeps his title after abdicating the throne.
Koos Sneek
DP Statia
Dear Editor,
In my first article on this subject, I focused on the discrepancy that exists already for many years between the way justice is served and practiced in the various countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and especially when it concerns politicians suspected of wrongdoings in executing their tasks.
In this article I would like to refer to an article, published on July 9, 2018, in which author Bart De Koning in his newsletter expands on the topic of “Nepotism: fraud and corruption in The Netherlands”.
He questions in his article among other things why white-collar criminals in the Netherlands rarely or never go to prison. Why is it that the Dutch government hardly ever snatches away illegally-earned money from criminals? Why are abusers of the social welfare system punished much harder than tax evaders? In the pre-publication of his book on “Nepotism” the author shows that the temptation of the big money is always present, and the Netherlands is no exception!
The author argues that in the Netherlands there is a perception of hardly any “visible” corruption. The Netherlands is even considered as one of the least corrupt countries in the world, as it appears from the annual extensive investigations of the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by Transparency International.
In 2016, the Netherlands scored in the eighth place of the Corruption Perception Index, just behind Denmark, New-Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway and Singapore. Excellent company and far remote from the extremely corrupt list of countries at the bottom, such as Somalia, South-Sudan and North-Korea. Do not be fooled by this so-called perception.
For the Dutch, keeping this self-image where the illusion of having an incorruptible public administration with highly responsible politicians, is extremely important. The Netherlands cherishes that illusion because they simply like to set themselves apart in this respect from others. “
According to Koning, when a scandal happens, they have a typical Dutch approach to maintain “that illusion of the integrity of the public administration and they maintain their self-esteem”. First, they deny the scandal, then “there follows an intermediate phase, consisting of a lengthy investigation” and then they conclude that not much was going on, and the case is closed.
If true, we ask ourselves, how on earth has it been possible that the following list of rather serious scandals still occurred in the course of past years?
* The Netherlands as a tax haven enables tax-evasion by major global companies;
* The Panama Papers disclosure in 2015 involved hundreds of Dutch companies,
exposing the bubble of World Online in 2000,
* Big Fraud Scandal in the Construction Sector “(Bouwfraude)”, exposed by Zembla in 2001, markets shared, cartels formed and price fixing, involved overcharging businesses hundreds of millions.
According to Koning, the chances are minimal to be caught in the Netherlands for fraud or tax-evasion.
In the event of major scandals, such as the case of corruption against the politician in Limburg, re Vestia, the accountancy fraud at Ahold and the RDM scandal, the involved major players, suspects and accused, are hardly ever condemned to prison time. In some cases, the motive used by the judges in the sentence is that the criminals already suffered enough from the negative publicity they got, so the author concludes.
Strange enough, at the same time, we see politicians in Sint Maarten and Curaçao in particular being prosecuted – one after the other – for wrongdoings and in most cases sentenced to jail time.
It should be clear that I cannot and will not understand why the equal treatment is not practiced in this part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. We, the people of Sint Maarten, demand equal treatment and reject all forms of discrimination being practiced in the Justice system within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is my duty to bring awareness to the public of all wrongdoings within the Netherlands that go unpunished!
Regarding the article referenced in this publication for this week, visit the following link on internet and Judge for yourself! https://www.ftm.nl/artikelen/vriendjespolitiek-fraude-en-corruptie-in-nederland-v1?share=1
Josianne Fleming Artsen
Dear Editor,
Some days ago, it was my birthday. It is an event which I look forward to immensely, taking the opportunity to disconnect from the world and to focus on celebrating another trip around the sun with my loved ones. After a few days when I connected my phone back to the Internet, the device soon blew up with disturbing images and videos of a pregnant tiger shark being caught, cut open and having her pups ripped out while a crowd, including small children, stood by and looked on.
I was first quite upset, and then saddened to see my friends and colleagues from St. Maarten, St. Martin, Anguilla and around the region come to grips with not only the catching of a species threatened with its imminent extinction, but to also watch the disrespect for life we still need to come to grips with here in the Caribbean.
I was upset and saddened at how, in 2019, with all the information out there on how sharks are so important to our ocean’s ecosystem, that they are not the mindless killers that they were made out to be by the media, that they are one of the most endangered animals on the planet. How can us island people who have such a close connection to the sea not realize that we have now removed one of the most important animals in the oceanic food chain? I then realized that misconceptions are still a major issue regarding how we perceive sharks.
Sharks are essential to the health of our ocean; they are top-level ocean predators and their essential role in the ecosystem is to keep it in balance, ensuring that the whole food chain remains intact and functioning. If sharks are removed, the population of animals they prey on will become unbalanced, and our reefs and the fisheries which depend on them, will collapse.
To also see more than a dozen near-term pups, who would have grown into essential parts of the ocean food chain, also killed, further highlights the level of threat faced by these creatures. The arguments that a shark was responsible in the death of an Anguilla fisherman who went missing some months ago without any corroborative evidence, or the saying that any good shark is a dead shark, without any consideration for the importance of the species, is something which needs to be addressed in the wider Caribbean Sea.
Sharks are not the mindless predators we have been led to believe by movies, books and television series. I would recommend your readers to consider this the next time they use their telephone cameras to take a picture of themselves and their friends at say, a nightclub: the act of taking a selfie has killed more people in 2019 than in three years by sharks. And New Yorkers have bitten more people than sharks ever can and ever will, often times with more deadly consequences.
Think about this the next time a flight arrives from JFK. Yet, we are led to believe that these animals are mindless killing machines out to consume unsuspecting bathers. All this while annually humans kill one hundred million sharks a year. (100,000,000 annually). Some estimates say that some sharks will be extinct by 2030, followed by many other species of fish, followed by the way of life we know as Caribbean people. And some may say that the shark will be eaten. This is in itself a problem: sharks are so full of mercury that eating them may be causing us to poison ourselves.
Aside from these facts, all of them established in science, the act of cutting up a live animal, a pregnant female, and leaving its pups spill out on the beach in front of children, dragging it up the beach causing it to suffocate is just cruel. Where is our moral compass, our realization that we are part of a whole with all of the creatures of this planet? Where is the realization that we should and must show compassion for all life?
I find it difficult to believe that the people who were seen dragging this animal up the beach and seeing it suffocate and die did not feel some type of remorse, did not consider that this is a living thing that had a life, an animal that has seen things in the ocean that we never will, that has evolved much earlier than us and has formed the foundation of our very existence. I find it hard to acknowledge that somewhere, deep down in their hearts, they did not feel some form of negative emotion in doing this to such a magnificent example of God’s creation.
Nature Foundation will continue with its shark conservation program that not only involves research and protection, but also has a large educational component. It seems as if we have a long way to go in changing people’s perception of sharks, which luckily, are protected in the territorial waters of St. Maarten.
These animals are some of the most misunderstood, maligned, yet most important creatures in our seas. Healthy reefs need sharks. And to do this we should collectively save our sharks. Not only for their sake but, ultimately, for ours.
Tadzio Bervoets
Manager Sint Maarten Nature Foundation
