Dear Editor,
Amidst reports of accomplishments by the government of St. Maarten as far as the Trust Fund is concerned, the debate continues as to the speed or lack thereof in the entire process of financing of the reconstruction on St. Maarten via the World Bank. We have had reports regarding the progress, the pace and the accomplishments. Just recently someone wrote an article and compared the World Bank structure on St. Maarten for the reconstruction as “Met een kanon op een mug schieten.” This could be freely translated into “cracking nuts with a sledge hammer.”
These reports include the progress report by the World Bank itself and a scathing report by the General Audit Chamber of the Netherlands.
Just recently again there was some uproar regarding a statement by the Dutch State Secretary about completion of the repairs to homes and roofs on St. Maarten. It was commented that the State Secretary grossly exaggerated the amount to which he referred. The amount to which he referred was that most homes have been repaired. Several persons subsequently contradicted that statement of the State Secretary.
There is still a lot of discussion regarding the entire functioning of the financing structure as chosen by the Dutch Government for their reconstruction aid to St. Maarten. The agreement between the Dutch government and the World Bank for this purpose is regulated and agreed to in a so-called administrative agreement. With respect to St. Maarten, the World Bank and St. Maarten would sign off the different grant agreements when these approvals have been arrived at.
As an annex to the administrative agreement between the World Bank and the government of the Netherlands, there is also a document called Guiding Principles of the Government of the Netherlands regarding the execution of the trust fund for the recovery of St. Maarten. Several matters are set out in this particular document, but which should not supersede the administrative agreement. Nevertheless, in this guiding document, the Dutch government has marked three policy objectives and they state that it is highly desirable that these three policy objectives are addressed in the steering committee when considering financing through the trust fund.
These three policy objectives by the Dutch government are a) achieving sustainable waste processing and water purification in collaboration with France; b) guaranteeing the accessibility of St. Martin with a view to supporting the economy, and thirdly and interestingly is the policy objective for the Dutch government in the reconstruction, good governance! This might explain some of the discussions that are taking place with respect to the financing for individual projects.
Noteworthy also are some other principles in this document of the Dutch government such as: Value for money and it is mentioned thereby “local labor will be used to the greatest possible extent and within the framework of the procurement regulations of the bank; attention will be given to opportunities for local companies to take part in the implementation.”
I highlight this area again because given the aforementioned and the criticism and contradictions regarding the execution of the Trust Fund, I think it behoves the three parties involved in the steering committee as three equal partners (the Netherlands, the World Bank and St. Maarten) to take a moment and evaluate the process up until now and try to get a better understanding of where exactly the bottlenecks in the implementation are and come up with ways to improve these.
It helps no one to only be pointing fingers and giving personal opinions as to where possibly the bottlenecks could be and who is responsible for the tardiness in some of these projects and grants, etc. St. Maarten needs to emphasize the capacity-building element in this programme as well as getting the maximum of the programme back into our local economy, despite the rigid World Bank procedures.
Sarah Wescot-Williams
Chairperson of Parliament
Dear Editor,
Our island is going through perhaps one of the most trying times of its history. People have taken advantage of the incredible devastation of Hurricanes Irma and Maria to impose their will on us; to divide and conquer, when we were at our lowest.
It is sad, very sad, that we now turn on each other, rather than come together. It’s tit for tat. We take everything very personally and want to hit back at our very own, but all we’re doing is playing into the hands of other people.
I am breaking my silence on the developments on the island, and the protracted investigation into my husband, MP Theo Heyliger’s alleged attempt at bribery and I call for the people of St. Maarten to unite in these trying times. I admit that I have remained silent for too long, just like so many other St. Maarteners. But it wasn’t out of fear; it was more because, being Theo Heyliger’s wife, it seemed the prudent thing to do. But let me make this very clear: I’m not asking anyone to fight for my husband. That’s my fight and I got that. All I’m saying is that we need to open our eyes and see what’s happening before it’s too late.
Besides, there is a danger in remaining silent; and that is, what do I tell my children when they ask, “Mommy, what did you do when all of this was happening?” I can’t reply by saying: “I did nothing; I remained silent.” Silence, they say, means consent. In fact, it could mean complicity. We have to all stand up together for our island. It is incredible that today, we seem to love those who have historically oppressed us over even our own family! And while we fight each other – tooth and nail – others are taking over the island in broad daylight.
Honestly, this is not about one individual; it is not about one politician. It is not about my husband. I think if we continue to look at it like that, we will remain divided and that will be the end of us. Believe me, the way I see it, it is St. Maarten in trouble. That’s why we need to unite. We need to come together, now! It’s about St. Martin. It’s about our island. It’s about our children and their children’s future.
If we continue to focus on what this or that one did or did not do; what he said or she said about me… if we continue to think that it will never happen to us, then we would have learnt nothing from history.
This is bigger than any one of us. That is why I am calling on all of us, to set aside our differences – even if for a little while – and come together to stand up for our island.
In the end, when we look back, we will realize that the real disaster that struck us was not Hurricane Irma; it was not Maria; the real disaster that struck us was our lack of unity. That is why if we want to save our island and move forward, we must unite, now.
Grisha Heyliger-Martens
Dear Editor,
How long will it be safe to play the 14th hole on the Mullet Bay golf course? Over the last two months we noticed digging a hole next to this hole . Two 20=story high rises are supposed to be built there.
First it looked like a big pool , but after digging for let’s say 15 feet and pumping the water 24/7, we saw the bottom , sand. Then a lot of concrete without any rebar was poured for the foundation. A contractor once told me that a foundation is the most important part of any building and should be enforced properly with a hell of a lot of steel. I am not an engineer, but I hope that the contractor knows what he is doing .
The game of golf is difficult enough and mostly between the ears . Looking up during my swing to watch if these buildings are not collapsing on me, will definitely cost me a stroke .
Johan Datema
Dear Editor,
The people of Sint Maarten deserve to know the stance of the Sint Maarten Christian Party on the various issues plaguing the country. In particular, since the latest unpopular statements made by the party’s sole representative in Parliament, MP Claude “Chacho” Peterson, in regard to using the World Bank recovery funds allocated to assist the people of this country, to build the new Parliament Building instead.
This statement shocked the entire community and caused quite some consternation in other parts of the Kingdom.
After the remarks made in the Parliament by the MP, I received many calls and was on many occasions stopped on the street by concerned citizens, questioning my stance on the statements made by the MP of the Christian Party.
Most persons while expressing their concerns stated that it is bad enough already that this so-called Recovery fund has done anything but help them recover from anything, as the majority are still just as roofless as they were one and a half years ago after being struck by the storm, and are still awaiting word as to when, if ever, the people of this country will be receiving the much promised assistance to especially put roofs on their houses, among many other pressing matters.
These persons expressed that to make matters worse now, a seemingly out of sync Member of Parliament who, according to them, the people of this country did not even elect, who is just lucky to be sitting there after some reshuffling took place, shows how clueless he is in regard to the actual plight of the people of this country. The MP sits in the house of Parliament, and suggests that out of the money set aside by the World Bank to assist the people get back on their feet; 145 million should instead be used to build a new state-of-the-art Parliament Building.
I admonish the relevant MP and many other colleagues in Parliament, to prepare properly for meetings before coming to deliberate the issues, as not doing so, this would only cause for MPs to speak things that suddenly pop into their heads and cause them to fantasize or philosophize in the middle of serious deliberations concerning the people's business, to eventually say that they were only joking and it was a little bit of sarcasm that they used.
I strongly condemn what took place in Parliament; a Member of Parliament subjecting himself to sarcastically joking while deliberating serious topics of concern to the people of the country is disrespectful and definitely not funny. Especially, when dealing with a nation that is already fragile due to the rough economic times.
The duty of Members of Parliament is to restore a sense of security and trust, while handling the issues in such a manner, that it creates confidence and peace among the people and not restlessness.
Great concerns came from our biggest Kingdom partner, stemming from the now unpopular comments of the SMCP’s Member of Parliament. As much as I appreciate any outsider looking out for the people of this country, I’m amazed and wonder why it is that with so many different persons and entities mentioning the fact that so many people on Sint Maarten are still roofless, that absolutely nothing is being done to remedy this situation.
With all the talk by those in the various positions, on Sint Maarten as well as in The Netherlands, all it boils down to is just talk and nothing else, as the people in the meantime continue to remain roofless among other things. When will something be done to alleviate this serious situation?
Once again I demand that the Council of Ministers give the people clear answers, as they need answers now. Many persons claimed that the mold of one year and a half is now destroying what was left of their houses. It is also feared that by the time whatever help finally arrives, the remainder of their houses will all be destroyed, especially with mold, or be rotted from the amount of time exposed to sun and rain, causing them to need much more than just a roof.
Many persons claim to have attempted to temporarily assist friends or family members after the storm, and are now, one and a half year later, basically “stuck” with these persons due to the fact that no matter how hard they’ve tried, there is just no affordable housing available. Moreover, to top this off, for them to hear a Member of Parliament suggest that the funds allocated to help them should be used to build a Parliament Building, is just plain absurd.
I call on all Members of Parliament and the Council of Ministers not to forget the people of this country, but to live up to the promises made to them, which is to give them top representation and to put them first in everything.
It is an undisputed shame that the people of this country still find themselves in such deplorable situations, especially after all the promises made by this Council of Ministers, who proclaimed after the storm that the immediate change of government was necessary, and that they would immediately alleviate and remedy the crisis situations that existed.
Well, the people are still waiting to this date. All that they have seen so far is the constant reports of Ministers flying or sailing all over the globe, supposedly with the pretext of getting things done for the people. My question is then “Which people?” as, from the feedback I receive from our people; the majority of them are not being helped.
This government needs to get their act together and set their priorities straight.
I will always put the people of this country first, because that is what I was elected to do.
Egbert J. Doran
Member of Parliament St. Maarten
Dear Editor,
On page 7 of The Daily Herald of Tuesday, January 29, I finally found an article concerning the ethical behaviour of our Dutch politicians. This was a list of the most scandal-hit political parties in the Netherlands for the sixth year in a row. If the top three were mentioned, which adds up to 23 scandals, I think it would be fair to mention that the list is longer and that the average scandals involving politicians is at least two-plus per month.
This could be an explanation for the reason the Dutch are constantly extra vigilant of our politicians. I see it as two-fold which could be explained in two known sayings: “Zoals de waard is, vertrouwt hij zijn gasten” (one judges other people’s character by one’s own) and/or “misery likes company.”
On a scale of one to ten, where would the integrity of the Dutch government be as a consequence of the political integrity scandals? Because we know how vigilant Van Raak and Bosman are, I was wondering if any one of them were instrumental in uncovering any of the 23-plus scandals?
I am not sure, so I would like to know in what capacity is Van Raak questioning MP Peterson? I am open to a lesson in civics.
Russell A. Simmon
