Dear Editor,

Life is short and that is why we must know the meaning of life to live it to the best of our ability. We have to know our purpose in life to place the value on it. This is our purpose in life. Matthew 6:33: But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. In other words, our purpose in life is to know God. It is not to seek riches or become a lover of pleasure.

This past week quite a few distinguished people died in St. Maarten. And our sympathy goes out to their families. People give their sympathy and state may they rest in peace. But the question we should ask ourselves is: Did we as human beings give them love while they were alive, and if we loved them did we ask them to seek God? Because God is love.

Come to think of it, I am guilty of that also. We know people, we eat and drink with them and hold many discussions, but do we ever ask them to seek and get to know God first? Did we tell them how much we love them? The family is the nucleus of a country; when the family disintegrates, the country disintegrates.

Parents, husbands and wives, love your children, sacrifice yourselves for your children and not the other way around. Love like you were never hurt! If you made mistakes, correct them if you can. Never be afraid to ask for forgiveness. God and Jesus forgive as much as possible because our purpose in life is to serve Him. Do not bring people flowers when they die but give them love and as many flowers while they are alive.

The conclusion is, our purpose in life is to seek and know Jesus Christ first and serve Him and then to love one another. If we did not do that, we have wasted our lives. To qualify for everlasting life which only Christ can give is to repent of our sins so that we will be found righteous in His sight. For that is the only way we can overcome death. Then we do not need to say rest in peace. But we will be able to tell our loved ones who die, “See you until Christ returns so we can live forevermore in joy in eternity.

The Patriot Miguel Arrindell

 Dear Editor,

As a concerned citizen of this blessed little Island, I find it’s very unfortunate that no one can find a solution to the dump fire.

My daughter was admitted to the hospital for asthmatic treatment on May 17. Her treatment was improving but was dispatched on May 19, due to the heavy smoke from the dump traveling through that area, which is not good for an asthmatic patient.

Her doctor was very much upset because of the unhealthy situation at the hospital.

The nurses had to protect themselves by using hygienic masks just to continue taking care of the few patients that were there.

I have to commend the nurses of St. Maarten Medical Centre for working under those unhealthy and stressful moments. It’s not healthy for them, it’s not healthy for us and surely not healthy for anyone.

I don’t believe we as citizens of this Island should have to suffer under these conditions.

Word of advice to this nation, please take care of yourselves because no one will do it for you.

To the elected officials, please find a solution for the dump fire and do it fast, for time is against every one of us.

Lemuel Fleming.

Dear Editor,

The widely circulated video - via social media - of the approximately 10-man-strong Dutch delegation, including Government Commissioner Mike Franco, Dutch State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops and Minister of Justice and Security Ferd Grapperhaus, purchasing groceries at Duggins Supermarket on Statia in early May, was curious to say the least.

Firstly, the caption was, perhaps unintentionally, misleading. It erroneously read: ‘Dutch delegation shopping at Duggins Supermarket for a hundred dollars’ worth of groceries’, while the customer monitor clearly displayed the actual amount spent, a grand total of $57.86. A difference of $42.14!

Secondly, the video concluded with Mr. Franco, Mr. Knops and Mr. Grapperhaus posing for a photo displaying the three plastic bags of purchased goods. After reading an article in The Daily Herald newspaper of Friday, May 18, (‘CDA, D66 make call for higher social allowances’), the reason behind this PR stunt is now evident.

During a recent meeting of the Permanent Committee for Kingdom relations of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament it was reported that Knops stated the following: ‘He had gone into a supermarket in St. Eustatius a few weeks ago to do some shopping, together with Minister of Justice and Security Ferd Grapperhaus, and he was shocked by the high prices’. How could this be? After all, the Commissie Spies concluded in their 2015 report that: ‘in socio-economic terms the situation on the islands has clearly deteriorated since the end of 2010’.

Furthermore, the more recent report entitled: ‘Onderzoek naar de prijzen in Caribisch Nederland’ (Research of prices of food products in the Caribbean Netherlands), which was commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, and sent to the Second Chamber in September of last year, concluded inter alia that:

–The price level on the islands is relatively high. This applies to Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius. One of the explanations for this is the fact that virtually all products consumed on the islands must be imported. This means extra costs due to the necessary transport and other extra actions required to get the products on the islands. Additionally, because of the limited population size, market demand is also modest in size, making it difficult to manage economies of scale (in purchasing). The islands are also heavily dependent on existing transport routes and providers;

– Prices on the islands rose sharply between 2010 and 2014. The price developments on the islands are periodically mapped out by the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS) in the Netherlands. The numbers show that prices have risen sharply since 2010.

The comprehensive report provides conclusions, intervention possibilities to influence the prices and recommendations, which includes: the implementation of a voluntary system of maximum prices, tax exemptions on (some) necessities, subsidizing of energy cost for businesses, investment in local agriculture, joint purchasing, the publication of the different supermarkets’ prices and the increasing of awareness through budget planning. The report also concludes that supermarkets do not have exceptionally high margins and their net profit is about three percent.

Therefore, with this valuable empirical evidence in hand, how can he, to use his own words, in all fairness be shocked at this juncture? More importantly, the question needs to be asked; what is the State Secretary doing about it?

As a local manager, I felt prompted to defend my company against the biased characterization. Equally important, however, is that I am a proud Statian and stand ready, willing and able to assist in the development of a more prosperous Statia for all, regardless of who is in charge.

I respectfully call upon the government to start implementing the recommendations in the many reports that have been commissioned to mitigate the high cost of living on the island. This includes the publication of the results of the research into the so-called ‘social minimum’ report Caribbean Netherlands that has been going on for far too long and has once again been delayed.

There can be no more excuses. As the Dutch would say: “geen woorden, maar daden” (It is better to do well than to say well).

L. Gumbs-Duggins

Dear Editor,

Over the years while travelling I have always visited museums when possible. By doing this I have found out that, "What be is not "what is". In museum or musea one can see 'what was till what has become'. In so doing I have also visited authentic black museums in the USA and found out that a whole lot of inventions were made by slaves but patented by their owners. One of the reasons a lot of inventions are not registered under the original inventors' names. One could conclude hereby that the slave was very smart.

Accepted, because it took intelligence and insight, but I believe that necessity urged the creativity. They found ways to make tools to lighten their work. There are so many examples of taking credit instead of earning credit, but this letter is not about black history nor promoting blackism, it’s about forgetting the politics and political power. It is about making use of the urgency to rebuild Sint Maarten and being creative.

Use the urgency and necessity to be creative in the name of general interest and applying emergency measures. It is about the insensitivity of the businesses and especially the hardware stores. Irma came, did what she did, and left the whole of St. Martin upside down, and every, yes, every hardware store, both Dutch and French literally jacked up their prices by at least one hundred percent.

What made me write this letter to you so many months after Irma is the fact that two young people came to me and wanted to know, "If Holland could bring building materials to Sint Maarten in those war ships just like they bring the police cars too, because our mother used up all her savings trying to repair our house, and we still got a whole lot more to fix".

This hit home, because just everybody else, I too am experiencing the same thing. No question that there will be bureaucracy involved, but we know that our long but not so lost sister Suriname has a lot of wood. I also know that where there is a will there is a way, And I also know that there are still important ties between the ex-kingdom partners, so I think that that is also one of the avenues that could be used to get where we want to.

Take it or leave it, but the only thing is done on the part of government is that they are sitting with their arms crossed while the insurance companies are shafting everyone, even our own airport. There is a lot of millions floating around, which because of political power struggle and arbitrariness cannot reach the people and Mark Rutte comes to Sint Maarten and tries to insult the intelligence of the people by praising our elderly, who, everyone knows, need to be attended to themselves, but the Prime Minister does not let the people know why he came.

I do not believe that between the lines he is telling government that the elderly are doing more for themselves than government is doing for the people. So, then I must ask myself, is it Irma, is it the unscrupulous business owners, or is it the different governments, who is really the enemy to the people in this case?

When we put two and two together and we know that many ex-and present politicians have all kinds of business permits and are renting them out, and we know for years now that absolutely nothing is being done about price control, would not a chunk of those relief monies be indirectly going back to the original permit holders? So yes, am I for meticulously control of those moneys. And since that question from those two young people I would even say bring the material. We import everything anyhow. so why not see what for instance Suriname can do for us. Cut out the greedy, overzealous, inconsiderate middle man. That suggestion from those two young people sounds more and more like the way to go.

Necessity urges creativity. If this is not in the general interest of the country, what is? One of my father's philosophies in life was to educate through sayings and proverbs, and he would tell us to pick sense out of nonsense. One of his sayings was: the only people you should get even with are those who help you.

Russell A. Simmons