Dear Editor,
My tenure as Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (MECYS) in the Interim Romeo-Marlin Cabinet has come to an end. When I transitioned into the role as Minister on January 15th of this year, I was overwhelmed with a sense optimism and gratitude for being given the opportunity to serve my Country. In this short time, during which we have been through a parliamentary election and the formation of a new government while still very much in the midst of our Recovery process, I recognize that there have been continued challenging moments and unforeseen complications that influenced emotions, our sense of well-being and progress of our recovery.
As I close off this interim term, I reflect on the progress and accomplishments made since January. The assignment for the Interim Cabinet had a strong sense of focus on the recovery progress post Irma, the establishment of budget 2018 and the continuity of ongoing governmental affairs. In preparing this message I returned to my very first press briefing speech given during my first week in office. In that message I emphasized my prioritization and focus on the psycho-social wellbeing of our students, teachers and MECYS staff; safety and preparedness of all MECYS institutions to ensure that our children and youth can learn and develop in an environment that is conducive to their overall development; reconstruction and possible re-zoning of certain critical facilities; capacity building; policy and legislation.
To that end the Ministry’s accomplishments as a team have been remarkable and individual staff members of the staff bureau, departments and divisions have made significant contributions towards the MECYS agenda of recovery and strategic change in the short period of time. I am content with what we together accomplished as a team; none of which would have been possible without the support of my capable Ministry.
With the hard work of my team, I take pride that our Ministry has been able to:
* Advance significantly with the Higher Education Ordinance, the establishment of a Law Faculty on the island and complete the Study Financing Ordinance.
* Host the first ever Creative Industries Interactive Exchange Forum and present the 2018 Culture Prize through which has served as the catalyst for dialogue on the establishment of an Artists Guild as well as an investigation into the economic opportunities the creative industries may bring to the island;
* Train staff members of the ministry, teachers and key MECYS stakeholders through trainings and workshops on disaster management and phyco-social wellbeing;
* Highlight the importance of sports and focus on the critical repairs needed of our sports facilities through the #SportsMatter initiative;
* Advance on critical repairs to schools and surrounding perimeters, repairs to several community basketball courts and sports facilities;
* Significantly advance with a number of conclusions, agreements and an enhanced relationship between the Government and the St. Maarten School Bus Owners Association;
* Successfully complete the school year, with study financing and an examination season where initial results indicated that student’s learnings, especially in our exam classes, were not significantly impacted by the Hurricane;
* Establish a number of key committees including the Steering Committee to evaluate and discuss Career Development in the Teaching Profession, Monument Council and UNESCO National Commission;
* Contract a consultant and establish a project organization to assist in the repositioning of Public Education as we work towards schools of excellence;
* Secure our place as an important Ministry to discuss and develop new building criteria to build our schools back better.
Our recently established National Recovery and Resilience Program highlights and confirms that the MECYS sectors has been significantly impacted by Hurricanes Irma and Maria with estimated damages of more than 60 million dollars and 1,7 million dollars respectively. Personally, I wished to have advanced much further with the repairs to our schools, sport facilities and cultural heritage and organizations, but as I have been informed that the insurance claim may be settled soon and the interests of Build Back Better repairs have been recognized in the first tranche emergencies and short term needs via the Trust fund, I am hopeful that Quarter 3 and 4 will see intensified reconstruction of our precious MECYS infrastructure.
Knowing that the MECYS agenda continues to be challenging, I sincerely hope to see an accelerated recovery and continued improvements for resilient and 21st learning environments, a cultural and sport infrastructure with programs that fosters and propels talent and a Philipsburg “knowledge and cultural city” that boosts our identity and social-economic strength.
I sincerely thank each and every one of the staff members of my Ministry for their dedication to this Ministry, their professionalism and hard work for the community of St. Maarten. I would especially like to thank Mrs. Shermina Powell-Richardson, my acting Secretary General, who has been steadfast, calm and consistent, as well as Suzan Aafjes and Oralie Boirard for their significant contributions to the recovery process.
With the transition into my new role as Minister Plenipotentiary as of Monday, June 25th I ask for the staff’s continued enthusiasm as they welcome new MECYS Minister Wycliffe Smith and his Cabinet. I personally believe that this Ministry and the people of this Ministry, including the teaching staff and sport instructors are one of the greatest assets of the Government of Sint Maarten and I hope to be able to continue to support and collaborate with MECYS where ever I can in my new upcoming position.
I thank Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin and my fellow Council of Ministers for the opportunity to work with such a vibrant and enthused set of individuals. Each of us fought passionately for our Ministries. With limited funds, an at times uncertain trajectory and an overwhelming amount of work to be done, conversations at times were tense but I truly believe that each Minister’s only motive was to see the people of St. Maarten successfully through the recovery phase. I am proud to have been a part of this team.
To the media, I enjoyed building what I hope was a strong relationship and active partnership between the Ministry and yourselves. As I stated back in January, “Your responsibility within our society is an important one as fair and balanced reporting is in my opinion, the corner-stone of your profession.” I believe in the principles of an open government and radical transparency to regain trust amongst our people, our constituents.
To the people of St. Maarten, I am very humbled at the responsibility that was entrusted in me. I worked hard, I gave it my all and I look forward to my continued service to Sint Maarten as your representative in the Hague.
I wish to end with the quote “Goodbyes are never easy and this goodbye is hard for me. Then again some can say “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying Goodbye so hard’” (Winnie the Pooh).
God bless Sint Maarten always.

Jorien Wuite
Former Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (ECYS)

Dear Editor,
The cooperative platform has taken note of the status report recently submitted to the parliament by State Secretary R. Knops regarding developments on the Island since the February 7, 2018, enforcement of the law “Tijdelijke Wet Taakverwaarlosing St. Eustatius.” While the state secretary paints a very positive image on all fronts the reality on St. Eustatius differs significantly in many areas. This point is further confirmed by the lack of specificity offered by the state secretary in his progress report.
With regard to the intervention which Mr. Knops stated is designed to last as short as possible or as long as necessary in order to realize “results” and the restoration of law and order with regard to the governing process the platform observes the following.
While these goals are admirable there is a lack of a structural plan of action in the approach toward accomplishing these goals. What are the “results” referenced to by the state secretary that would constitute sufficient achievements in order to end the intervention? Has the state secretary defined the criteria by which “results” will be measured considering that it is now the task of the Kingdom Commissioner to accomplish these results? Has the Kingdom Commissioner been asked to submit his plan for achieving these results?
It is not clear what is meant by this, only when we are provided with information in concrete terms can the statement “as long as necessary” be quantified. The platform believes that the parliament and people of Statia need to be provided with an indication of what is meant by the secretary’s statement “As short as possible and as long as necessary.”
Mr. Knops stated that since the intervention even the critics of the intervention have become more amicable with the ideas and current situation, which surely constitutes a disconnect with the reality on the Island. The concern of the platform is that in reality the opposite may be true. The lack of information with regard to government actions, structured approach to the issues being addressed and lack of checks and balances leaves not only critics but also the supporters of the intervention with many questions that remain unanswered fuelling doubt and scepticism with regards to the progress of the intervention.
With regard to the provision of information to the public Mr. Knops reported that significant efforts to provide information have yielded positive result. In reality while there have been some attempts to provide information to the public the provision of information with regard to the actions and activities of government has in fact decreased since the implementation of the new law.
Prior to the implementation of this law the public was privy to publicly held meetings of the Island Council where information was provided regarding the decisions of government, decision lists of the Executive Council were published weekly and made available at the public library. There were, most of the time, weekly-held press conferences of the Executive Council which also provided the public with detailed information with regard to the activities of Government in addition to information provided through the government radio program and via the department of GIS Government information services.
Since the intervention there has been one town hall meeting, no public meetings of the government, no radio programs and no press conferences. The decision lists are not made available to the public and only selective ordinances are published on the website of the Island Government.
When the public entities were established national Government implemented laws and bylaws that govern the lives and liberty of the people of St. Eustatius but also ensured the adherence to the pillars of good governance – namely, transparency, accountability and checks and balances. The failure to stipulate in this intervention law “Tijdelijke Wet Taakverwaarlosing St. Eustatius.” as to how these pillars of checks and balances must be adhered to is one of the main concerns of this platform.
The platform recognizes that there have been positive developments since the intervention and commends the Kingdom Commissioners for these efforts. The immediate actions with regard to combating erosion, removal of car wrecks, hurricanes restoration project and the focus on development and training of civil servants are all positive developments which are in line with the positive developments that meet the expectation of the public as a result of the intervention. Providing the public with more timely information regarding future plans and involving the community via increased interaction will help to continue to build good will and support for the actions that must be carried out during this transitory phase.
In the report of Mr. Knops, while it focused extensively on the deficiencies on the island as referenced the report of the committee of wise men which played a critical role in the final decision on intervention, it should be noted that to date there has been no attention placed on the comments and advice of the committee of wise men regarding the role of the national government. This report concluded that the situation in St. Eustatius was ultimately caused by actions or inactions of both Island and national governments. In order to ensure that the current situation should result in a sustainable solution the report suggests changes that should be made on both island level and national level.
The platform wonders whether Mr. Knops acknowledges these shortcomings on the part of the national government and whether there are also steps being made to correct them as is being done on Island Government level.
Finally, while this issue was not addressed in the letter of the state secretary, both critics and supporters of the intervention still have not been supplied with an argument/explanation for the decision for postponement of scheduled Island Council elections in 2019. In the historical precedents within the Netherlands as it relates to interventions of the national government in municipal administrations there has never been an instance where these interventions were attached to, or included, or affected the organization of free municipal elections. Therefore, the open question remains why this approach was taken with regard to the intervention on St. Eustatius.
Transparency with regard to this subject together with a published plan for the restoration of law order and good governance will go a long way toward the reassurance and confidence of the population of St. Eustatius that the intervention is indeed accomplishing the purpose for which the parliament gave its unanimous support, namely not the regime change as implied by some factions on the island but the restoration of law and order and the restoration of good governance, where the people of St. Eustatius are informed in an effective manner and involved with the governing decisions that will affect their lives and future.
The status report of the state secretary towards the parliament underscores the deficits in social economic and infrastructural development that consecutive governments have been confronted with over the years. These deficits and the governmental challenges are addressed and well documented in various studies throughout the years. (Spies report, Ideaversa report, etc.) These reports also proposed solutions to the issues that have been identified in the areas of social, economic and infrastructural development. In order to realize lasting changes it is important to use the information presented in these reports together with regular dialog with social partners and community of St. Eustatius to formulate sustainable solutions to address these issues facing the island in the transitory phase and beyond.

Gerald Berkel,
Facilitator, Cooperative Platform St. Eustatius

Dear Editor,
“Finally, St. Maarten is getting a government” – those are the words out on the street today. After the last election on February 26, the people of St. Maarten can sigh a sign of relief that a government is being installed this Monday, June 25. It took the formateur, Mr. Heyliger four months to accomplish this task. Right now, he is holding the record of taking the longest period to form a government in the history of St. Maarten. But it is better late than never.
Under normal circumstances, you would provide a new government with a 100-day
honeymoon period for them to get their feet wet. But these are not normal circumstances and according to media reports, five of the present members of the Interim government will be returning as ministers. They will no longer be labelled with the interim status therefore the people expect them to perform. The people want to know if those proposed Cost Reduction Measures will be enforced.
Secondly, the people also want to know if the government has plans to introduce any type of revenue-generating measures. What are some of the plans to stimulate this economy to create jobs and a business atmosphere to promote small businesses? What are some of the incentives to promote local and foreign investors? Is this government planning to allocate part of the recovery funds to establish a loan guarantee program? This program would allow those potential entrepreneurs the opportunity to start their businesses without having the necessary collateral.
After Hurricane Luis in 1995, part of the Dutch funding was used to set up a funding program to assist those businesses that were affected. These funds were managed by the Development Bank of the Netherlands Antilles and were a great help to many businesses that were suffering financially. Today, many businesses are in a worse financial position due to Hurricane Irma and this type of funding would certainly assist them to become profitable once again and employ more people.
We expect that this new government will be releasing their governing program during this week for the people to know exactly what they have in store for them. Remember, our major port of entry is still damaged, many people are still jobless, roofless and hopeless due to the fact it took the “formateur” four months to form this government.
There are many people still roofless despite so many different agencies and the government promising them to assist. We honestly believe that there must be some type of coordination between these agencies and the government because at the end of the day it is those people who are homeless that are suffering the most.
The opposition also has a gigantic task ahead of them as the people expect them to question the government about their governing programme, the proposed cost-cutting measures, any new revenue-generating proposals and the National Recovery & Resilient Plan (NRRP).
The people expect that the opposition will bring proposals forward in the Parliament of St. Maarten that will be beneficial to them and to give direction to the government if they are working like a ship without a rudder.

Lenny F. Priest
National Alliance

Politics navigating between the waves of justice and power

Dear Editor,

As the great value of education for every citizen, since last century, has been recognized by almost all governments in the world, such generally has resulted in better attention being given to elevate the quality of life for all their citizens by means of government policies promoting education. But while we all know how important politics itself also is for our lives (“from the cradle to the grave”) still, in major parts of the world, including on our islands of the former Netherlands Antilles, the education regarding politics has remained very limited.

What here exists is mainly some school literature regarding the formal legal organization of government or as a subject of social science without thereby throwing a first good light on the internal structure and functioning of politics.

With this introductory work about politics we’d like to contribute to this issue and show, already in this first chapter of our upcoming book that it requires serious and honest attention from each citizen as it touches important individual and community values.

We would like to do that from a brief account of a matter which in this month of June 2018 is causing a lot of tension in the United States of America (USA), and which, in the near future also will be forcing the “Americans” to do some deep soul searching before honestly being able to say they deserve the title they have given their nation of “the greatest democracy in the world.”

That is because of the policy which the actual administration of president Donald Trump, through a public announcement by its Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has introduced in the last month of April for refugees who have entered the USA seeking asylum against the danger of being caused great damage or even losing their life in their own country.

The USA is partially affiliated to the Convention of 1951 of the United Nations regarding the Status of Refugees. Sessions then had declared that his administration would maintain a policy of zero tolerance regarding immigrants who enter the USA illegally, containing that the adults involved will be criminally prosecuted and their minor children removed from them and locked up in separate quarters.

After two months of this new policy it now appears that around 2,000 youngsters forcefully have been taken from their parents, sometimes pulled away from their breastfeeding mothers and with toddlers crying and screaming for their parents. It also appeared that at the time this article was written the government could not account for around 1,500 of the children.

When the press started questioning Trump and Sessions they blamed previous governments which had implemented the law they were now executing, which was very disputable as no previous government had tried to treat children in such a cruel manner. After that, following Sessions, other government officials also had been declaring that the Bible itself (Roman:13) “commands the citizens to obey the laws of government.”

While indeed many, particularly American evangelists, have agreed with said explanation, there were also many, including other evangelists, who called said policy inhumane and against many declarations of Jesus of Nazareth, the founder of Christianity, like “Love they Neighbor,” Mark: 12:31 and “Let the children come to me,” Mateus: 19:14. Others also commented that this Trump policy gives new evidence that he wants the USA to remain in the first place a country for white people.

What we see happening there is nothing less than two of the most fundamental values of our daily lives and of politics – justice and power – functioning by means of human activities with very dramatic results.

While they ought to function complementing each other, such can be in a critical manner and also can result in them strongly opposing each other. Still, in essence they emerge from the same source of our amazing human consciousness, from which we also ought to evaluate all our activities and underlying values related to our lives and politics in particular. That’s why we want to approach this work from our human consciousness although such will become more apparent, later in the course of this work.

Before reaching there we first have to stop at a few other important phenomena, like, in the next chapter, the one regarding the use of words in common parlance and also in politics: the relationship between words and their meaning.      

Elco Rosario