Dear Editor,
On Monday, September 24, I was at a place of business where I asked one of the attendants for a specific brand of water. The attendant told me that they had not received that brand of water yet since they opened. He recommended another name brand which in his words sold more than the local name brands.
I was confused because to my knowledge it was a few years ago that one of the locally produced potable waters came out on top when tests were made on potable waters, both produced locally as well as imported. He could not recall that, but he was of the opinion that the name brand that he mentioned sold faster than the locally produced potable waters.
This did not sit well with me, so I decided to ask around. The little that I know about marketing is that if a product is declared number one, one would not hesitate to advertise this with posters, on radio, TV, on billboards, etc. Remarkably I have not seen none of this.
What I know about testing water is that the Health Department and the laboratories are usually involved. What I gathered is that as a rule potable water should be tested monthly and these tests, which determine the qualification for drinking, are paid for by the representatives of the different name brands. I stand to be corrected if this is not explained correctly.
What was hinted to me and is yet to be confirmed is that not all representatives of the different name brands of potable water, neither produced locally or imported, live up to the rule of testing. So, my question is, where are the checks and balances between the health department and the labs?
I know of this procedure because when I worked on Aruba and the registered ladies of the night did not report for their weekly check-up at their respective doctors, their names were forwarded to the vice squad which made sure that they complied. I believe that this system of checks and balances should be applied to the testing of potable water sold in the country and should become second nature to those involved.
I am not asking for the results to be made public because I do not believe that the government should be in the business of publishing which is the best drinking water. The labels with the nutrition facts should be made to show that.
On checking the different name brands I came up with three locally produced, from among the eight that I found. My question is, if none of these potable waters are tested regularly, what control do we have over the quality of the imported potable waters? I think that it is time to look into this.
What hits me strange is, if samples are not submitted to be tested, why are not the representatives of those which are rightly being submitted complaining? It takes cooking gas to boil the potable water which is not tested and of which eight glasses a day is recommended by everyone in the medical field. Why should we have to boil it again if we are paying for it?
Russell A. Simmons
Politicians should be treated
Like baseball players
Three strikes and yeh OUT
IF team DG was playing
Baseball
Long time they would be all
out for nothing
In the space of one week
We had the teachers
Strike
The Parents Association strike
Now the school board they too
Are on the street
And the whole ah St. Martin
On ah uproo
And on their feet
And they ain’t accepting no defeat
The people demanding explanation
For those politicians’ inaction
And we refusing systematic
All political rhetoric
So please avoid us the
Pain
With your dumb mass
Excuses
And save that for your next
political campaign
Cause Daniel team
Is playing a political game
And not a baseball game
For if tez was baseball
Three strikes and they all out
Raymond Helligar aka “Big Ray”
Dear Editor,
Who’s been to GEBE recently to ask a question from the customer service desk in Simpson Bay? Have I? Why yes, today I set out for service. Curious about the so-called “customer service” I received? None. Here’s what I did get: a woman who felt she is “entitled” to work there as she gave the typical St. Maarten attitude, kissing her teeth as if I were disturbing her morning.
After patiently waiting 40 minutes for her to return to her desk (this was late morning time, not lunch) she was much more interested in speaking to a man who decided to stand behind me asking questions and flirt. As I tried to speak over them and continue with my concerns, she seemed to grow angry. Here’s the thing, at NO time did this rude GEBE employee excuse herself from me sitting there with my excited child looking for assistance. Instead she ignored me and spoke to this man who was interested in a he said/she said conversation.
To the man who felt as though he was more important to speak over me: you are a sexist individual to feel as though your voice is stronger than mine. Who do you think you are speaking over me after I waited so long for service? Sadly, disrespectful people like that are probably illiterate and don’t read the paper. Shame on you for using your gender and race to overstep my sincere concerns with my electricity.
I am curious, was this a race thing? Well, truthfully, I will never know, but I truly felt it. From the moment I sat in front of her she was not interested in helping me. Her mannerism and tone of voice displayed that. I began politely explaining my concerns and by the end I could not help but express my utmost disgust towards her lack of care.
Interesting how we as consumers can set out on a journey to a company in the best of moods and end up walking out cursing and wanting to drink rum! Anyone else out there relate? Oh, I’m sure I hear an “Amen” already!
GEBE, thank you for taking my electricity every day for an hour the past 2 weeks for so called “maintenance.” I pay my bills on time which means the miserable, inattentive, racist customer service woman who sits at the front desk in Simpson Bay probably received her paycheck on time, correct? Were my concerns met today? NO, they were not. Apparently my concerns will have to be met another day as I continue to pay my bill without proper answers.
Communism in the Caribbean: pay your bill and keep your mouth shut. Okay.
Maybe you could employ individuals who don't feel so entitled to their comfy desk jobs and actually give fair service to everyone despite their gender or race! Or, here’s an idea: a customer service person who can understand a question being asked about electricity without getting offended as if she owns the company!
Customer service, customer service, does any company on this island have any idea what customer service is? Today this woman has me utterly disgusted in GEBE more than when they randomly shut down my electricity.
Message to everyone in a customer service position, be it GEBE or McDonalds: you are replaceable. Your poor attitude and lack of care will catch up to you and I assure you, you will eventually lose your job over it. You are not entitled to your job, no one is.
Wake up people, always be courteous. However, start demanding respect when handing over hard-earned money for all this terrible service we get, maybe things will slowly change! Enough is enough.
Mary
Dear Editor,
A year after Irma and GEBE still didn't fix all the streetlights in the Montevista Hill area!
Most of the poles are standing so they probably just need to replace the bulbs.
A few weeks ago we had a deadly shooting in this area !
GEBE, please make the roads at night safe again for the Montevista Hill residents !
A concerned resident
Name withheld at author's request.
Dear Editor,
Books, books and more books! That's what libraries are made of. The Philipsburg Jubilee Library (PJL) housed over 60,000 volumes before Irma. Books in English, French, Spanish, Dutch and Papiamento. Books for pre-schoolers to research fellows.
The bookshelves are mostly empty now, with the vast majority of the publications sealed off in cartons where they obviously don't belong. The cartons also contain a sizeable collection of DVDs (feature films for all ages, documentaries, etc.)
One of the most valuable collections in the library are newspapers that go back to the 1970s, in other words, to the beginning of modern print media on the island. Thank God the collection is, at least, partly digitized.
The Windward Islands Opinion of pioneer Jose Lake Sr., the Newsday of his son, Junior, the New Age of Mervin Scot, the Chronicle, The Guardian, The Caribbean Herald, and Today that became a casualty of Irma, are among the newspapers that have ceased to exist but whose pages contain invaluable information about the St. Maarten they were writing about.
Can we afford to lose this treasure trove of historical information? I think not. How then do we ensure the continued existence of the Philipsburg Jubilee Library in a sustainable, structural and efficient manner?
Let me state that in my humble view, the present misfortune of the library offers a golden opportunity to address the foregoing question boldly, creatively and with a clear vision. What do we want the library to be, especially in this age of Internet and Google? The answer to this question should lead us to consider whether the Philipsburg Jubilee Library should be turned into a real “public library” or even a “national” library. What is the difference, you ask?
Well, in its current form, PJL is a private library, in the sense that it is “owned” and run by a private foundation even if it is subsidized by government. As a public library, government would have to fund it while the librarians and other staff would become civil servants. As a “national library” it would have to be the principal repository of information about St. Maarten, including acting as an archive for rare, valuable and important manuscripts, and establishing a national bibliographic record.
I recall that former Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Dr. Rhoda Arrindell had begun discussions in this direction when she was in office. However, there is no evidence that this continued after she left.
“Libraries are everyman’s free university,” stated American writer, John Jakes. If that is true, then, like free universities, libraries should be funded by the taxpayer. And if we see the library, as novelist Doris Lessing does, as “the most democratic thing in the world (because) what can be found there has undone dictators and tyrants,” then we can no longer continue to ignore the dismal state in which the Philipsburg Jubilee Library finds itself.
Action is needed, not tomorrow, but right now, because as best-selling author, Sidney Sheldon said, “Libraries … open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life. Libraries change lives for the better.”
Fabian A. Badejo
