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,

An elderly man from Jandoret (Curaçao) once sat me down to speak to me concerning how he envisioned that police should go about their work in the country as opposed to the more inhabited areas. During that conversation he used several sayings of which when I was reading the article concerning the denial of the labour inspectors access to the airport I remembered one of them.

He said it in Papiamento, which translated would sound like this and mean the same: “Every closed eye is not sleeping and every open eye is not seeing.” Because it would be very useful to me during the carrying out of my duties I made sure and wrote it down in my book.

After reading that article I said, “This is very simple.” I started by asking myself if there was a security company involved? If so which one? Honestly speaking, with my mind on who mans the security companies on St. Maarten? Again, I was not there so I cannot pass judgement, but I had to ask that question.

In one of my most recent letters I wrote about the reaction by government personnel “Who does Russell think he is?” Because of my conviction to uphold the law I was not deterred, but that is the atmosphere that leaders in government have created over the years.

Instead of letting the public know that those in authority have to carry out their duty, regardless of who is involved, they would call the person who is dutybound to carry out the law directly or via his/her superior to prevent them from stopping the irregularities, and letting them know that they would handle it. It is still happening and Minister Lee in my opinion is directly or indirectly also a contributor to this.

Irma should never be a reason for publicly petitioning the Immigration to be lenient. This was not tactical. It automatically increased the pressure on the Immigration Department to do exactly the opposite and rearrange the administration. What it did was boost the popularity of Minister Lee.

I know that the original consensus was for the Ministries to consult each other before taking certain measures, but I do not get the feeling that Minister Lee is a team player. I do not know the details, but my experience indicates to me who feels empowered to do exactly what Minister Lee experienced. I expected the backlash because that is what it is.

Long before Irma people have been complaining that the Immigration doesn’t go about their business like formerly when the illegal workers would be afraid to venture out. Nowadays they are not only not afraid, they are buying up old cars repairing them, running gypsy (check outside the harbor), stopping any and everywhere in the road and even committing road rage.

I mentioned it when writing in respond to Joslyn’s letter on sex with minors and I will state it this way this time: “When you come to St. Maarten, leave your bad ways at home in your country.” Money for border control is available. What does border control entail? We have to determine who is a St. Maartener!

Russell A. Simmons

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

Dear Editor,
It has come to my attention that the streetlights are still not fixed in Beacon Hill more than one year after Hurricane Irma.
Broken street poles are a common sight in this area which is visited frequently by hundreds of tourists who are renting a place in this area or are brought to the Simpson Bay beach through Beacon Hill!
When the night falls it’s pitch dark!
So not safe to walk on the road!
Debris from Hurricane Irma and construction debris are still visible next to the roads in view of the tourists who visit this area!
Government promised to clean it up but to no avail!
A new dump is also arising in Beacon Hill.
I hope GEBE and government will look into this matter as soon as possible.

A concerned resident of Beacon Hill
Name withheld at author’s request.