Dear Editor,
Several times I have been told that I had mentioned certain things several times in my letters to you. Sometimes I jokingly answer. As long it is well meant, as with prayers, that’s all right.
I repeat different things for several reasons. For instance, if a letter was written to you in July or August, these are school vacation months and low season in which several parents and children are off-island, so to make sure they get a chance to read it, I repeat it.
Another reason is that it makes a difference whether you read a book at 12 years old, at 16 or as an adult. The perception is different in all three periods. This is because of life’s experiences along with objective and subjective perception.
So yes, I sometimes intentionally repeat myself.
I also believe that constant dropping wears a stone. That is why I know that someone will regret acting “at will” by not dealing appropriately with our public transportation.
In your Editorial “The rule of law” I read, “When frequent infractions, no matter how seemingly small or insignificant, are tolerated too often by society, they tend to become common practice.” This part of the reason for this letter.
Someone (who, I still believe, thinks that I have D.T. symptoms) wanted to know the difference between talking on the phone while driving (using phone while operating a vehicle) and driving a vehicle with illegal tint? Both are traffic violations. He then wanted to know what the difference is between selling firearms without a permit and making a business out of putting illegal tint on cars?
In my first month in the police training school we were admonished not to embark on hypotheses while studying because that would distort the facts. The elements of the law should never be distorted. Being well grounded in the elements of the law and sticking to the facts limits the guessing game, which saves time.
Getting back to “becoming common practice”, I met a man who was here for Carnival and he told me that I should write about the way they just throw down traffic material all over the road which is confusing to people who don’t live in St. Maarten.
My answer to that is because when I say A, I should also say B, that is the responsibility of VROMI, but when I see who is carrying out those works and I know how accurate those traffic detours are laid out with the necessary signage in Holland, it strengthens what I have said on several occasions about the way we are perceived, and considered felt free to be treated. “We zullen een beetje knutselen.”
I am not a football enthusiast, but in reading the sport pages I assume that the World Cup is just around the corner. Yes, because of the way Minister Giterson was pursued after that accident, I would like to know if special patrols will be kept in the vicinity of those places of business where the games are televised and alcohol is being served.
By now we know who are the football fanatics (these days it’s cricket, Caribbean people) and how much alcohol is consumed by the supporters of the teams of their different countries, during those 90-odd minutes. Do they appoint designated drivers?
Russell A. Simmons
Dear Editor,
A sad scene played out on the Pondfill road by the old government building on Monday afternoon. Hundreds of drivers drove past a fairly-decent-sized turtle trying to cross the road. The result: someone crushed that turtle to death. It saddens that of hundreds of people passing, no one took the moment to stop traffic for less than a minute to help the turtle to the other side of the road.
We can put forward all the excuses about holding up traffic and being scared to touch a living creature, but it should be noted that a society that cares not for the welfare of living creatures is a society doomed to inflict cruelty on fellow humans.
So, please remember that we share this planet and island with all living creatures. A bit of kindness to the iguana, the kitten, a dog, a crab, that monkey or even that pigeon and, oh, man. How often do we see a turtle crossing the road? Kindness, my fellow residents of St. Maarten, for any living being would go a far way to prove that we are an island of caring people.
I look forward to seeing us as a people stopping traffic to give way to life.
A future traffic stopper
Dear Editor,
There was a time when decision-making in Sint Maarten took place rapidly and efficiently. Particularly in the era of Claude Wathey, the dominant politician whose outstanding communication skills and understanding of the community, led to quick results and rapid advancement of the territory. Fast forward to 2019 and decision- making has clearly become so difficult, that serious questions arise in respect of governance of the territory.
There are, of course, huge differences between the nature of decisions in those early years. Many decisions were made in Curaçao until 2010. The institutions that played a role in decision-making were far fewer. The constitutional processes for decision- making were far fewer. The territories’ challenges were more obvious.
The constitutional processes are of Dutch design. Decision-making processes were the nuanced result of centuries of development. Endless entities to cover all eventualities to ensure good governance and equitable management of public resources are the basis of the Constitution and government structure. A model that was relatively successful in Europe and well regarded, but showing a dramatically different track record in this very young governance entity that is Sint Maarten.
The failure to function is not leading to a fundamental review of the structure, it is instead leading to extensive rhetoric against “the Dutch” who have inherited the seat of blame from Willemstad, the earlier incumbents of this doubtful honour.
The backdrop to this decision-making is a stratified community. The private sector is dominated by persons without strong connections to the core political elite. The population with the most local roots is challenged in respect of its identity and is searching for solutions that avoid it being overrun by newer immigrants; a group of highly varied origins.
The control of the public sector therefore becomes – from their perspective – vital to its protection in the long run, and hence the intense conflicts in the public sector leading to logjams in decision-making and instability as the conflicts are not resolved. The focus on the public sector inevitably leads to a lesser focus on the private sector and the economic motor that supports the country as a whole.
The further backdrop is a community where the social control that existed in a small island community is waning, and social media, television, access and view to many lifestyles is the basis of increased expectations. Those expectations are increasingly voiced, but do not translate into governance execution.
There are clearly opportunities for innovative leadership both in the Sint Maarten government as well as the Kingdom government to escape the logjam position the country finds itself in. The instability and lack of decision-making has been with us now for the majority of the country status period (2010 to 2019 ) and there has not been any action that is likely to reduce the instability. If there is any surprise, it should not be about the continued instability but more about the lack of action to prevent it.
Robbie Ferron
We, the School Bus Owners, take offence of the degrading remarks made during the budget meeting on Wednesday, June 26, by MP Silveria Jacobs, when she stated the school bus transportation is ripping off government.
We find her statement to be highly offensive and insulting towards the men and women who go out of their way to get school children to and from school safely.
Contrary to what Ms. Jacobs would like to make people believe, School Bus Owners notwithstanding their operational cost, charge a maximum a mere NAf. 75 per trip from as far as Maho to Milton Peters College, for the same price since 1987.
We would like to hear from Ms. Jacobs if there is some ulterior motive as to why she continuously bashes the School Bus Owners and through this tries to make the public believe what she has and continues to state.
For many years we have been trying to work with government in regard to school bus transportation, however, to no avail.
Our silence ought not to be misjudged. Enough is enough!
SXM School Bus Owners Association
Dear Editor,
The votes of no-confidence tabled against Ministers Miklos Giterson - VROMI; Cornelius de Weever-Justice; Perry Geerlings - Finance and Emil Lee - Health were imminent for quite a while. What has stalled these executions is that the MPs, who support these verdicts, were acting on a directive of how and when to implement them. The chain of events is there to enlighten the public as to who is behind these commands.
However, viewing the argument brought forward to dismiss the VROMI Minister is debatable. Even though the implications of the court’s ruling do not fit the behaviour that is expected of a minister, is it a fair call to discharge him? If the motion was based on his inability to manage his ministry, then the proposal would be justified. It would be interesting to see which opposition members will vote for the motion, because publicly, one of them has ordered the Minister not to resign.
It is so clear that the minister is not dancing to the tune of his piper, because it is rumoured that before the ink was dried on the minister’s resignation letter, one of his cabinet members made some inquiry as to the procedures into him becoming the next VROMI minister. Miklos had to fire him a long time ago. Besides, the minister had to expose the young MP, who is dictating how he should run his ministry.
With regard to the Minister of Justice, he too is being caught up in a spider web, spun by those who have used him for their benefit. Now that he has served their purpose, and is refusing to bend to their wishes, they want to push him aside. When it was announced that the coalition asked two ministers to resign, the people need to question if it’s the entire coalition, or a few rabble rousers, acting on behalf of their captain?
Yes, the minister has failed to communicate effectively with the people, but what does one expect of an introvert? A few years ago, an inmate was shot dead in prison. Did the then Minister of Justice resign after this horrific crime? Children are being molested every day. Guns and drugs have literally penetrated every district in this community. Which Justice Minister has done the honourable thing as gesture of his failure?
Finance Minister Perry Geerlings has done a horrible job with the budget and should take full responsibility for the chaos he has created. To present a budget on the heel of the upcoming financial statement is unacceptable. This is a display of his incompetence and a complete waste of taxpayers’ money. His cocky attitude has defiled him. For sure, he would have been better off if he had hired some local consultants and heeded the genuine advice of Parliament.
Minister Emil Lee needs an article for himself, but I will try to compact my thoughts. I believe the population is being bamboozled, every time this minister addresses the public. Whatever he says, one has to take it with a grain of salt. Minister Lee has never admitted his failures; instead, he tries to wiggle himself out of every situation that warrants any form of transparency.
Almost four years ago, Minister Lee campaigned on building a new hospital. To date, nothing has materialized, but he is still obsessed with an idea that was not his to begin with. Will the hospital be named ‘Emil Lee General Hospital’? And then he plans to erect another huge building. Why the obsession with buildings? I guess the population will be greeted with the sign ‘Welcome to Emil Lee Smart Complex.’
Well, the straw that broke the camel’s back was when MP Christopher Emmanuel asked the minister to pull up the letter on screen again. All of a sudden, the letter was nowhere to be found. Is this not a familiar scenario from the minister who claims to be transparent? And, I must say that the Vice Chair ought to be ashamed of himself, to allow the minister to get away with that tactic. But as the saying goes, “The longest rope has an end.”
Chairlady Sarah Wescot-Williams, it is time to acknowledge that Minister Emil Lee has failed miserably; therefore, you cannot in good conscience keep him there any longer. Your decision to recruit him has been the worst judgment of your political career, which has eventually led to the demise of the Democratic Party.
MP Wescot-Williams, you have no control over the minister’s heart, thoughts or decisions. What he thrives on is your support. Therefore, for the good of the people and this country, it is time to withdraw that support and send him home!
Joslyn Morton
