Dear Editor,
I would like to thank Mr. Haar for revealing himself. That was a remarkably quick response from a man halfway across the world.
About the only thing he got right was that I am the grandson of Claude Wathey. Again, Mr. Haar gets the important facts of Claude’s sentence and verdict wrong. That’s twice now. Mr. Haar’s source is likely a lazy journalist he looked up online that’s also living in the Dutch echo chamber.
Was it the old Volkskrant article, Mr. Haar? I remember that article. It got the sentences among those involved in the case mixed up because the guy couldn’t be bothered to fact-check (as usual with a lazy journalist).
Claude was indicted on a fantastically long list of ridiculous charges. After millions of taxpayer guilders spent looking for dead goats and God knows what else, they came up with perjury and 12 months suspended using methods that are now no longer permissible in a civilized country. That’s not a very good use of taxpayer money and state power. Once upon a time, journalists used to stand up to that sort of thing, not endorse it.
And it does matter who the sources are as well as their context when you write about the life of a man. Mr. Will Johnson was once a political opponent of Claude who has since moderated and reconciled his views with his onetime adversary. I’m sure today the two would be fast friends in a bar somewhere laughing at it all. But a story made in jest about a dead goat or cow being passed around is not evidence of a lifetime of corruption.
Then again, under the current atmosphere these days perhaps they’ll find a reason to investigate Claude again and detain his remains for 10 days while some straight-faced detective questions his bones over goat trafficking or whatever it was.
And while Mr. Johnson may have joked that Claude was a dictator when he was a young member of the opposition, that doesn’t mean Claude was one or that our historian would agree if asked that today. In fact, Mr Johnson himself condemned your twisting of his words. Claude as dictator is an old smear that can’t pass the test of logic and factual scrutiny.
With a little more practice, Mr. Haar may just yet become a real reporter. But he is not fit to write our history. And I’d rather not be lectured by a man who ran from St. Maarten after the first sign of real adversity.
Adrian Lista
Dear Editor,
In April I wrote an article under the headline ‘Heyliger’s bribery allegations have a long (family) history.’ It appeared on the independent news website
stmaartennews.com on April 9 or 10 of this year. More than two months later one Adrian Lista – a grandson of Claude Wathey, or so I’ve been told – showed in a letter to the editor of The Daily Herald how upset he was about this piece.
In itself, I find it rather weird to react to an article that appeared on one platform –
stmaartennews.com – with a letter to the editor of another news outlet. But never mind, t’is the culture probably, as the saying goes.
Mr. Lista makes one very good point in his rather slanderous letter: “Above all else, real journalism is about reporting what is true, not what you want to be true.” Very good and his letter proves the point.
Lista labels my article as “weasel journalism” – I hadn’t heard that one before – and speaks of “playing loose with the facts.” My career in journalism spans more than five decades and I surely have made my share of mistakes – but playing loose with the facts isn’t one of them.
What was Mr. Lista so upset about?
Probably about the following paragraph:
“Bribes have been a fact of life in St. Maarten for a long time. Historian Will Johnson mentioned in an address about Heyliger’s grandfather Claude Wathey on July 31, 2016, what must have been one of the first recorded cases of bribery in St. Maarten. In the 50s of the last century Wathey was having trouble getting a majority vote for a project to “turn around traffic in Philipsburg,” as Johnson described it. The crucial vote had to come from Piesco (Charles Wilson). Wathey sent Clem Labega to investigate and he came back with the message that “a small calf would do the trick.” So, according to Johnson, Wathey bought a calf from “either Lexie or Miss Ela Brown and Piesco was back on board.”
Is that what Mr. Lista considers “playing loose with the facts” by accusing me of “being light on fact and heavy on fiction”? I always thought that Will Johnson was a respectable and reliable source when it comes to the history of St. Maarten. But maybe Mr. Lista considers Johnson a fake historian like he considers my article fake news.
Oh, that Wathey – according to my article – once described himself as a “beneficial dictator” comes from the same source – Will Johnson’s address I referred to above.
I also want to point out that my article was not about Claude Wathey – it was about Theo Heyliger and I used the references to Claude to illustrate that the family he belongs to is no stranger to bribery. Mind you – those allegations against Heyliger are just that: allegations. Time will tell whether these charges hold up in court.
That Claude was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 1994 on charges of forgery and perjury is a historical fact.
That those who were close to Claude prefer to forget that fact is understandable. It is, however, part of the – to quote Mr. Lista – “incontrovertible facts about Claude.”
“The way prosecutors trapped Claude and got him convicted of perjury is now no longer permissible under our modern criminal law precisely because it is viewed as an ethically dubious method of getting a conviction,” Mr. Lista furthermore complains.
That could be true, but hey: in our system court cases are handled based on applicable law, not based on laws that might or might not be written 20 years later. So, it’s a non-argument.
To sum it up: I stand by my article – not anonymous, but with my full (and real) name.
Hilbert Haar
Independent journalist
Currently based in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Dear Editor,
I am writing this hoping it sheds light on some very stressful situations facing our locals. I am hoping here to be a voice for the voiceless. When one encounters situations that cause sleepless nights for upright citizens it becomes criminal not to say something and hope improvement will come about. This is about the situation Mrs. Z and several others find themselves in:
Mrs. Z. is a pensioned disabled lady who seeks answers to her dilemma. This lady ALWAYS keeps up to date with filing her taxes, and seldom if any time during her working years had to be anything additional because she always had enough deductibles in or to be able to get refunds.
A few years ago she filed for 2015, 2016, and 2017. The tax administration is 3 to 4 years behind, so this year of 2018 Mrs. Z got notice she would be refunded close to NAf. 3,000 for 2015. This she knew prior to that time, and made arrangement with someone that she would pay them for something owed from this refund. Arrangements were made with tax administration and her account was to be checked within 8 weeks for that deposit.
While awaiting the time to check for the refund, a notice came in the mail that Mrs. Z was to pay an additional NAf. 4,000 for 2016. When this lady went to inquire about collecting her 2015 refund she was told that she owes for 2016, and it would have to be deducted. You can imagine the disappointment.
Mrs. Z tried to protest, but her account officer was not receptive to anything she was saying. She explained that she was having much difficulty acquiring health insurance, she had her crutches, and tried every way possible way to see if she could get her refund and make the arrangements to start paying for what is owed for 2016.
Mrs. Z now sees nothing of what she strived so hard to obtain in 2015 and is up to date in filing 2018. Her 2015 benefit is lost and we are sure no mercy will be shown for her regarding how to pay for 2017 and 2018, while obtaining the 2015 refund would have facilitated this process, and relieve the current financial stresses faced by this lady. Once the 2015 refund did what it was intended to do, the path would have been clearer for dealing with what is to come.
This seems very unfair for a person who is getting the run-around regarding insurance – a person who was told by SZV she would receive a call from SZV, but never did. When she went to find out about SZV’s decision she was given a form to take to Social Affairs after waiting 3 long months for a call regarding the decision. Now Social Affairs is saying that it will take over 4 weeks to obtain a decision from them.
Here is a person who religiously files her taxes having to wait over 4 months for medical relief. Now we understand why there is often so much noise at SZV.
Mrs. Z and I are hearing from many social media contacts and their contacts that there is a huge amount of physical, emotional, financial, and mental suffering happening in their circle. Many people are facing a lot of pain. We are willing and able to help in their healing process although they have just about given up all hope. These situations do not make it easy for us to maintain the energy needed to be a support for others.
We are inviting others who are faced with such circumstances shared above to let their voices be heard. If we do not say something, those who are making these drastic decisions against our self-interest will continue these heartless practices.
It is time for us to get out of our minds and into our hearts. “The meek shall inherit the earth.”
Name withheld at author’s request.
Dear Editor,
Fake news and weasel journalism are everywhere these days, even in St. Maarten apparently. And while it may be true that “democracy dies in darkness,” it’s also true that “journalism dies in self-importance.” Above all else, real journalism is about reporting what is true, not what you want to be true. It does not have an agenda and it does not bend the facts to fit a preconceived and prejudiced narrative.
Dear Editor,
Wow wow wow really, so long there’s calling to reduce both parliamentarians’ and ministers’ salary and increase the minimum wage and nothing has been done.
Again and again St. Maarten oppositions parties’ performance are very poor.
Oh yes, the Dutch are waiting and hope maybe October 30, 2019, is the best date to lower our Parliamentarians’ and Ministers’ salaries.
And l quote Emil Lee: increase the minimum wage very soon.
Cuthbert Bannis
