Dear Editor,
Everything affects everything. We are interconnected, we are interdependent. Hurricane Irma has had a negative effect on many of us but I will not use her as the sole focus of this article. Let’s talk about one of the most important subjects in the world – money or our income.
We know our health is the most important one but If we don’t have an income we can’t pay our bills. Mortgage, rent, utilities, food, clothes, education, school fees, uniforms, books, you name it. I have heard it said that one should have at least 6 months’ savings equivalent to our monthly expenditures. Easier said than done. If we are employed and paid the minimum wage or less, it means that we are part of the working poor. I am sure that there are other definitions but I leave that up to you to do the research.
As I mentioned earlier, it is said that we should have at least 6 months’ savings equivalent to our monthly expenditures. Question, how can one save when we are earning the minimum wage or less? What kind of rent can we afford to pay? Hence the shacks which all too often can lead to unsanitary situations, and in addition to that, dangerous situations where extension cords are passed from one building to the other.
Another thing, minimum wage or less means we can’t afford medical coverage or private insurance. This is why it is important to get the National Health Care Insurance Law or policy in place. At the same time some employers refuse to register us with SZV. It means that depending on the seriousness of your condition you might die.
When you go to the supermarkets what can you afford to buy? It is said eating is healthy, I will add it is also expensive. I think more consistent control should be held on imported goods. Someone sent me a copy of the 21-page price list from the Economic Affairs Department informing the public of government prices for food, construction materials, produce and so on. I randomly picked out one particular item – The Bop Insecticide spray. The list mentioned the 250mL and 450mL quoting the price on each. Reality is that there is also the 600mL can that is sold but it is not mentioned on the list.
I think it’s time government determines what products can be brought into the country, especially the brand names. Quality is what has to be first and foremost.
I listened recently to a discussion held on eradicating poverty by now I think 2030. I think the goal post has been moved several times. It stated that world production has increased by 70 per cent but wages by only 20 per cent. In other words, we are producing more but earning less income. Translation: the rich get richer and the poor poorer.
To me it does not matter how many meetings, discussions, forums are held on this subject, as long as the status quo continues where persons are working harder but making less or not compensated, we will spend the next 100 years talking and things will only get worse. Companies are profiting off the backs of the people. Why can’t we also benefit?
Let me close with this. Wells Fargo Bank will be laying off some 26,000 persons or so between now and 2020 because they are going digital. (Cutting cost, who cares about the social ramifications). What kind of ripple effect will this have? Locally, banks on St Maarten are also on the same track to do likewise. Not positive for sure. Ripple effect.
George Pantophlet
Dear Editor,
When will the community come together to protect our children who are forced to surrender to the grip of paedophiles? Since the answer to this inquiry seems a way off, I am forced to ask the same questions as I did back in 2013, which included the following: If St. Maarten were to conduct a survey to assess how many child molesters are roaming around casually in this community, what would those findings be? Would they be in the range that is anticipated, or far more alarming than expected?
It was not surprising to see another sickening and frightening article that appeared in The Daily Herald on Thursday, September 20 – one that highlighted a continued pattern of sexual abuse of minors. What has become a growing phenomenon is that children are being seduced by their own fathers. Previously, this type of incident was alleged to be heavily concentrated in a particular culture, but it has been proven to be just a myth.
Today, more and more minors are becoming victims of sexual abuse by their own fathers, from all socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. Several of our children are not safe in their homes anymore. How sad! Can one imagine children going home from school to a place where they are confronted with the pressures of conducting sexual acts or being used as a symbol, just to satisfy the addiction of a sex maniac?
What pleasure can a 59-year-old man get from an innocent 6-year-old girl, who hasn’t even reach the stage of development where she can determine right from wrong? As time goes by, the ability to develop and nurture the quality to trust others will simply diminish because it was destroyed from the very inception. This experience has changed her whole perception of the world and people in general. How fair is this to her?
Then how do the 12- and 16-year-olds go on with their lives, when they too have been robbed of the joy of childhood? There is nothing in the world that can compensate them for this enormous tragedy. So, what do we do as a community? Do we just let this evil continue to destroy the children of this country? Personally, not enough is being done by the Court of Guardianship nor has any judge ever ruled in a manner that equates the magnitude of this horrific crime.
As a community, we need to rise up and put pressure on the Court of Guardianship and the judges to aggressively worked toward protecting our children from the revolting hands of these sexual predators!
Joslyn Morton
Dear Editor,
This subject is about hope, not about pessimism. But for people to establish hope the church must examine itself.
Peter 4:17 For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God.
1 Peter 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear.
The point is, if the church wants to attain credibility they must clean out the wickedness that is presently in the church. The church must demand that the leaders of the church live the example for the unsaved people to see what a Christian life is all about.
Oftentimes many churches turn the blind eye to evil in the church instead of confronting it. Be it the pastor or preacher or deacon or the usher of the church, all these people should be people of character and decency. They must be the example for all people to follow and their lifestyle should be of impeccable humility, humbleness and honesty with love and compassion to all race gender and people of different financial class. Unfortunately, when put to the test they usually fail.
The church must welcome all people, but it should not be friendly to the world. The world is the enemy of God and you cannot change a corrupt system if you allow it to lead you. The church is the entity to set the example. But most churches are interested to make the world accept them instead of teaching the world to follow God’s way of doing things.
The conclusion is the church must examine and purge itself for the credibility to foster an example of who Christians are.
The Patriot Miguel Arrindell
Dear Editor,
Each Year on September 21, the United Nations celebrates International Day of Peace. The UN General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.
The theme for the 2018 Day of Peace is “The Right to Peace – The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70.” The theme celebrates the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Universal Declaration – the most translated document in the world, available in more than 500 languages – is as relevant today as it was on the day that it was adopted.
Sustainable Development Goal 16 “Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions” calls for promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. A peaceful society is one where there is justice and equality for everyone. Human Rights are instrumental to get and maintain peace.
“It is time all nations and all people live up to the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human race. This year marks the 70th anniversary of that landmark document,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated.
What is our St. Maarten government intending to do on Peace and Justice for all?
Before 2010 St. Maarten and Curaçao have started to “Build Strong Institutions,” with the establishment of the High Council of State, the Ombudsman, the SER, etc.
If we look at the current Governing program 2018-2022, “Building a Sustainable St. Maarten,” some key priority areas for development of the country are mentioned. The parts that refer to SDG 16, Peace and Justice, building strong institutions, are: “Introduce Electoral Reform and Implement Integrity Chamber.” Strengthen collaboration with St. Martin and Kingdom partners are also to be considered falling under SDG 16. On action level: Develop a National Safety and Security plan and Be more safety smart, fall indirectly under Peace, justice for all.
The themes Transparency, Integrity, and Accountability are also highlighted in the St. Maarten Governing program, as also Electoral Reform. It states: “We must consider that there is a fundamental public lack of trust in past governments.
“We believe that both constitutional and electoral reform can contribute to the restoration of trust. While St. Maarten enjoys free and fair elections, an increasing concern is, that there is still a need to educate the community of our electoral system. To this end we will review the laws governing elections, improve electoral awareness on all levels and where necessary improve the democratic process of electing a parliament and appointing a government to office.”
Under “Protecting Industries and Communities” the Government of St. Maarten is focusing on Crime prevention, and it states: “To protect the people of St. Maarten and visitors to our island, we must intensify the crime prevention practices in the Justice chain. Strategic and tactical deployment of our officers in critical business and residential districts are some of the much-needed deterrents against crimes. However, we must not see crime prevention solely from the standpoint of increasing police presence. There must be significant investments in our Youth to prevent juvenile delinquency.
“To reduce crime in general we will strengthen our neighborhood crime watch programs, deploy more blue on the street, better equip and train the community police officers, finalize and extend the camera project. However, the task of crime prevention does not stop here and will have to include active identity theft programs and educate the community on the ills of the internet as it relates to private information.”
The Right to Peace
The Universal Declaration states in Article 3. “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” These elements build the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Yet, the Universal Declaration does not include a separate article on “Right to Peace.”
What does “The Right to Peace” mean to you? What can you do?
In the lead-up to the International Day of Peace on September 21, the UN calls upon all to act. You can support SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions by seeking peaceful resolution of conflict when disagreements arise around you. You can be part of the solution by taking small steps. You can prevent an injustice at school or in your community by adopting a non-violent approach to problem solving and reporting potential crimes, including online bullying.
You can promote human rights by collecting and promoting videos of as many articles as possible in as many languages as possible. Record yourself reading one of the 30 articles of the Declaration in any of the 135 languages currently available and share your video with your friends.
You can engage by speaking up when others are at risk and stand with others’ human rights at work, in school and around the dinner table.
You can share your ideas with the UN through #peaceday and #standup4humanright.
You can reflect how each of us can stand up for our rights, every day. Human rights are everyone's rights.
St. Maarten’s Department of the Interior and Kingdom Relations BAK is the designated focal point for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda on St. Maarten. Ms. Drs. L. Morales, program manager at BAK, can be contacted to be part of the SDGs process. You can reach her via government email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or per telephone number +1-721-527-1223.
The governing program can be downloaded from the St. Maarten government Website
www.sintmaartengov.org .
Department of the Interior and Kingdom Relations BAK,
St. Maarten Ministry of General Affairs
Dear Editor,
I believe it’s time we begin to change the name of Philipsburg into a new name.
Once upon a time many decades ago, when entering Philipsburg, the main capital of St. Maarten, through Bush Road side, you could smell the cool pond breeze. Or if you would take the Front Street side, you would inhale the fresh Great Bay sea breeze. But for the last 30 years or more, Philipsburg has become a toxic area from the smoking stinking pollution from the Pondfill dump.
Since last year, after Hurricane Irma, the situation became worse than before, causing many people who live in the surrounding area to become sick of the continual toxic smoke.
Dear Editor, it will be of no surprise in the coming years that a greater number of people will be suffering from serious lung infections, lung deceases, and cancer. This kind of dump smoke is highly dangerous to one’s health. The more you inhale this cocktail of poisonous gasses every day, from the large amount of toxic materials and chemicals burning there, the more it will accumulate in the lungs, poisoning your blood, and affecting your kidneys, and your overall health. After a period of time it will create some form of sickness or disease.
This is not a suggestion, but a proven fact all over the world, where people have been exposed to toxic chemicals for long periods of time. It’s like the concentration camps during Hitler’s time in Germany. The only difference there is that the people instantly died of the concentrated gas poison in a closed-up area. Here it is having a slow poison effect in an open area. But in the end it will cause sickness and disease.
I don’t think our government seem to be taking this issue very seriously. Or they simply don’t care. Most of the big-time politicians don’t even live in Smoky Town anyway.
People’s lives and health are at stake. I believe we need to start putting a sign at the entry of the Prins Bernhard bridge coming from Bush Road stating: “Dear visitors, now entering ‘Smoky Town,’ previously called Philipsburg. You are now entering a danger zone of toxic pollution at your own health risk. For more proof of evidence please see and observe our dumpsite at your far left. Philipsburg has become an official ‘Smoky Town.’”
Dear editor, St. Maarten obtained its separate status in the year 2010. But there are many intellectuals on this island who want the “whole hog” and desire also independence. They want more freedom from the “blond hair and blue eyes” from Europe, or who we would consider as the new generation of the great-grandchildren from the former Dutch colonialists. But if this is the way we are being treated as a people of this little island called St. Maarten, still under Holland, then how will it be when we get our independence and become subject to the mercy of the mentality of our government? It’s a kind of scary to know what they will do or allow.
I can now agree and understand the concern of the Dutch authorities pertaining to this toxic dump issue. This persistent problem, where people’s health is at great risk, has indeed become a problem. As one politician once said: “Some top politician is getting the benefit from this situation.” The old people would say: “There is no smoke without a fire.”
The Dutchman of Kingdom Affairs, Mr. Raymond Knops, stated that it will take time before a prompt solution can be found for this problem for there now seems to be no short-term solution.
Well, dear Editor, I believe that when a solution is finally found, we all will be poisoned, dead, and buried. Only our children or grandchildren will be able to tell the tale of how this whole situation was resolved.
Citizen of Smoky Town
Name withheld at author's request.
