Dear Editor,

The Maho group and Sunwing are not asking for free money. Rebuilding the two hotels will take far more than the insurance proceeds. They are asking for help from the government and a loan with favorable terms of repayment, using their properties as collateral.

Those same terms of tax incentives are available to be negotiated by any new investor, so what is the difference? It would be easy for them to do a Mullet Bay and just collect the insurance and close, then where would we be? As for Sunwing, if I was the CEO I would certainly be saying, “let’s just hang back a few years,” so you have to incentivize them to begin now. Building a new 500-room Great Bay Hotel and linking the boardwalk is exactly what Philipsburg needs.

Apart from being the single largest employer of what, 1200-1500 people? the Maho group represents 90 per cent of the Dutch-side hotel inventory. That’s right, 90 per cent, because every other large resort has converted their inventory to timeshares. Westin, Oyster Pond, Sapphire, Royal Palm, Pelican, Port de Plaisance, Sea Palace, The Towers, Flamingo, Divi Divi, Belair, Atrium – all timeshares. Without the Maho group, Sint Maarten doesn’t have a hotel industry!

We should be putting a moratorium on timeshare resorts and offering every tax incentive to bring hotels back to our island before it’s too late. What about Caravanseri/Alegria? I say to also lend them money from the fund, provided they only build hotel inventory – even better if they can bring a brand name.

Mike Ferrier has the difficult job to get the best return on investing the recovery funds. Loans to the biggest companies/employers that can (a) get the bulk of employees back to work (b) increase tourism to benefit all other local business, and (c) guarantee the loan repayments – has to be the first and safest option.

I am in total agreement with Mr. Ferrier that loans be established for small entrepreneurs, but ONLY as long as they can provide collateral for repayment; and I would go one step further, offer small loans to everybody that needs a new roof on their house – provided their house is put up as collateral. What I don’t want to see is “free” roofs given to anybody and everybody, especially landlords that are collecting rents. Otherwise let’s just buy everybody a free roof.

That’s fair play.

Name withheld at author's request.

Dear Editor
This morning I dropped my daughter to school in Sint Peters. Driving a scooter I am a bit more flexible in traffic than the bumper to bumper traffic crawling in and out of that area. Nevertheless, as a responsible parent I try to be as considerate as possible of my fellow road users.
Now as I was on my way out of Sint Peters at exactly 7:15am and just having cleared the entrance to Emilio Wilson Park a large fire truck (L-142) pulled up behind me from that very exit and immediately turned on his sirens. Traffic was backed up and cars had to crawl up the sidewalks to make way. Some were not quick enough and the truck blew his horn loudly and impatiently while the sirens continued blaring. Parents walking with kids moved aside as well to make way for the cars as the fire truck made his way speeding through traffic.
Naturally, there is nothing wrong with a fire truck blazing sirens and horns and speeding through traffic if there is an emergency. Lives are at stake! However, nimble as I am on my bike I decided to follow this truck to see if this show of force was really necessary. To my surprise, as soon as the traffic cleared up around the Texaco Bush Road station, he turned off his sirens and continued to speed through the roundabout, took a left onto Welgelegen Road and quietly turned into the fire station garage.
My question is, is it really necessary for our emergency services to abuse the emergency protocols so as to clear traffic and have an early breakfast? Is it worth endangering the traffic and pedestrians walking on the sidewalks just so you don't have to wait in traffic?
If this becomes the norm, people may become unresponsive during actual emergencies and as a result there may be real casualties. I wonder if that's worth it?

Harold Stevens

Dear Editor,

Last Saturday morning, looking in my book case for a legal handbook in connection with a complicated case I was working on, I saw this book by the cardiologist Pim van Bommel Eindeloos Bewustzijn (Dutch for Infinite Consciousness) wickedly smiling at me. In that 400-page book the author makes a strong academic point for the theorem that consciousness continues after the end of one’s physical life.

That indeed threw me back to the wake that was held for Dexter Kalla, the prior Friday evening at the Rupert Maynard Community Center at St. Peters. The Center was filled with people, which was logical as Dexter had a great personality and many friends. The atmosphere, despite the shock of Dexter’s unexpected decease after a very short illness, was a combination of deep sadness and near to esoteric lightness.

Quite a few of the people (including myself) were also there for their very warm connection with Dexter through our mutual love for the basketball sport. I therefore said to Dexter’s brother Darrel and some basketball friends that we will miss Dexter’s expert input in the upcoming NBA play-offs debates.

When, at the end of the evening, I went to Darrell to say bye he said to me: “Yes, Monday will be the hardest day.” These words here therefore are also meant as an effort to counter said sadness with something, hopefully enduring, to which I was brought while reaching my work/dinner table that Saturday morning with mentioned book about the infinite consciousness.

On said table I saw the Friday morning Herald newspaper with on its front page a picture of the next new St. Maarten coalition members signing the agreement for their government term. That picture connected me to the scene prior Friday evening at the basketball court by the Community Center with the boards and rings which had been destroyed by Hurricane Irma and still, after 7 months, not having been put back.

We all know that these days in most neighborhoods on Sint Maarten one of the greatest joy for the youth to pass their free time in a healthy way is by playing basketball and that particularly in St. Peters with its great court. As it quickly after the passing of Irma became obvious that new elections were on their way I have said to various politicians I happened to meet: why not score some slam-dunk political points by you and your party putting back those boards and rings, which request I repeated to them during the campaign time. Well … as we can see: nothing done yet.

The infinite consciousness which I truly believe Dexter now has passed on to, then brought me to this very favorite political talking point of mine: the self-activity of our citizens which, applied to the remembrance we will have of Dexter, led me to the following idea I was allowed to bring forward at Dexter’s funeral service at the Good News Baptist Church at St. Peters on Monday afternoon.

“I would like to present to you the idea of establishing a foundation with the name of Dexter in it, for example: “Dexter Youth Basketball (DYB) Foundation,” with the objective to promote the basketball sport on Sint Maarten, particularly for its youth and with its seat at the Community Center at St. Peters, but with the door of its contributors also being open to residents of other neighborhoods (so that I, for example, can also personally participate in it).

I discussed this idea with Darrel who told me that he likes it, so, ladies and gentlemen, you are hereby invited to register with said foundation as Darrell and his family will inform you how. And don’t worry, you don’t have to be a particularly basketball fanatic to be involved. There are many ways to be found, like serving Kalla oyster soup and bottles of water, to make you feel happy being part of this foundation.

And I guarantee you that Dexter will be smiling his great smile knowing that we will be doing the same. Thank you.

Elco Rosario    

Dear Editor,

The article that was placed in the newspaper earlier on page 13 of The Daily Herald on Friday, April 6, 2018, “Efforts made to remedy mold, mildew in Cottageweg building.” This article does not reflect the actual situation at the RCN building on the Cottageweg and has been used by the RCN Shared Services Organization (SSO) to sugar-coat what is a very serious matter. It is very unfortunate that the RCN SSO department is trying to push the blame in the shoes of the employees.

Over the past six years, employees and clients have been complaining about a stench in the building. The complaints were given to RCN facility services and the owner. Due to continual complaints, it was decided to make some cosmetic repairs to the building, which did not solve the problem of the stench.

The article states that the workers were chastised for not consulting the labour doctor about their health issues. The statement is irrelevant and is being used as an excuse. The employees were at that time not aware that the building was the source of the physical complaints. These employees were separately being treated by their family physicians and/or medical specialist. It was therefore not relevant to inform the labour doctor of this matter.

It is understood that the initiative was taken by an employee to involve the Island Health Department (GGD) due to the fact that their complaints were not being taken seriously by their employers. Based on the findings GGD gave advice to have the air in the building measured. Base on that SZW Unit Manager approached the RCN labour doctor to have the air measured.

After the air was measured by the RCN labour doctor it was shown that the building has severe mold and mildew. The air quality in the building is heavily contaminated. In several areas, the mold is clearly visible on the walls. The building dates from the early 1930s and used to be a supermarket. It has been understood that the RCN labour doctor stated that the building was never designed for air-conditioning. Several employees stated that they have been dealing with several health issues such as asthma, allergies, headaches, weak immune system and have felt their health deteriorate over the years but never realizing that the mold and mildew was a contributor to their demising health.

The building has been condemned on several issues such as uneven floors, leaking doors and windows, mildew and mold on the walls, the mildew stench, leaking roof, etc. It is understood that the labour doctor has deemed the uneven floors dangerous due to several accidents with result in injuries and physical ailments experienced by employees.

Late last year when a building finally became available in Golden Rock, which previously housed the pharmacy, a request was made by the SZW and IND department heads to secure the building for their respective departments. This was an effort by these two departments to solve the continuous issues their employees were being faced with. This move was blocked by RCN’s department of housing, RVB which stands for Rijks Vastgoed Bedrijf, who wanted the building for the Prosecutor’s Office. When the owner of the property indicated that he was first approached by the IND/SZW and was holding the building for them the housing department engineers moved to condemn the building not suitable for any RCN department on the basis that there was not sufficient light coming into the building (to the surprise of the employees).

As an unprofessional in this field, isn’t it easier to add lighting in the previous pharmacy building in Golden Rock than keep the employees in a clearly unsuitable building at the Cottageweg?

After the labour doctor’s report was sent to the different unit managers, the RVB department supported by their director issued a statement that the workers would be safe to continue working if they would open the windows and doors every morning to let the building air out. The IND unit manager acted promptly and decided to send his worker home. A petition was placed to look for a cleaner and healthier temporary location for the IND worker. The IND manager is now facing severe scrutiny and receiving little cooperation because he decided to stand by his worker.  

Employees from the other departments experiencing physical complaints and suffering from allergies could not find themselves in the orders of their managers to stay at work and be further subjected to the unhygienic situation in the building. Asked why they would remain in these conditions some uttered that they were afraid to speak out in order not to lose their jobs, while others were intimidated to stay.  

It is reported that the RCN SSO is trying to cover up this unhealthy situation. Employees are being chastised that they never consulted the company doctor before on their health issues and that therefore there were no records of them being sick. Even RCN labour inspector who is quick to shut down or fine businesses who violate the slightest health or hygiene code refused to get involved. This building is also being used to house the health insurance department and besides their employees, the clients including cancer patients are also being exposed to this situation.

In the meantime, work has been done to the building to tackle the issues, but only after internal pressure. While the work was being carried out, the employees were to remain in the building inhaling paint fumes, dust, other chemicals. Some employees and clients complained about the burning in their throats and watering of their eyes from the fumes in the building. It is important to note again that after these repairs there is still a stench in the building.

According to the labour laws, it is the responsibility of the employer to provide a safe working environment for its employees. This is obviously not the case with RCN SSO and the employees on the Cottageweg. It is unfortunate that employees need to consult their unions in order to get advice on how to deal with RCN SSO in this matter.

In the Netherlands the employees would never be subjected to this kind of working environment by their employers, why is it then expected that the employees here on Statia accept this?

On his visit to Statia State Secretary, Mr. R. Knops stated that he would like to regain trust with the civil servants and the community of Statia at large. It is obvious in this particular case that RCN SSO is not helping in rebuilding this trust by putting a spin on the story. It is the hope that this article is read by the State Secretary and a solution can be found to solve this matter and avoid situations like this in the future for the employees and the clients.

Concerned citizen of St. Eustatius

Name withheld at author's request.