Dear Editor,

In no way am I professing to be a language guru. Nothing could be further from that, because when I am among my people, I hardly concentrate on speaking correctly. I umpired baseball, I played softball, I was in the middle of carnival for years dealing with visitors from all over the world, so I had to make myself understood and make everybody comfortable on those occasions. But I was a police officer working in the Netherlands Antilles, where tourism was and still is the pillar of the economy, and that is where correct grammar matters.

I Googled “language” and it says, “The principle method of human communication, consisting of words used in a structured and conventional way and conveyed by speech, writing or gesture.”

“Wah she want”, “Go by dah window”, “Wah yo com for” and I can fill up a page with the different ways we, the vast majority of (permanent) residents of St. Maarten, express ourselves when dealing with the community as well as tourists.

My father was a stickler for speaking correctly. He sailed the universe while working for the LAGO lake fleet and from experience he understood that it is not the accent, it is the grammar. After reading the article on page 7 of the paper of February 28, “Toastmasters present course for mastering art of public speaking”, I realised that along with the grammar, there is mastering of speech structure, body language, etc.

And I am also overjoyed to have read that members of Parliament have participated in a similar workshop. I have been pondering for a while now how to write about this specific topic. Mainly to avoid, in case the letter is published, for your readers determining that I am discriminating against anyone from a particular country or island.. I had this letter in my computer for a while now and on reading that the members of Parliament accepted to participate in that course, given by the Toastmasters, the floodgate was opened.

Over the years I have had too many tourists come up to me and ask me questions, which I definitely am aware that the hotel employees could answer. So I would ask the tourist if they had asked the hotel employee because the employee should be aware of the regulations of their workplace better than I should. And it always came down to the same thing: “We only understand bits and pieces because they talk so fast.” I have also had cases where one employee would accuse the other employee, who made an extra effort to make him- or herself understood, of “Yanking”.

On the other hand I have also seen tourists who arrived at the airport and wanted a taxi, decide not to go with that particular driver because they could not understand what the driver was saying. That particular question I have been asked on several occasions, by people who were waiting for their family or friends to exit the arrival hall and experienced arriving tourists not being able to understand the taxi driver.

I do not have to point out anyone, but by now we know which Caribbean people are the most difficult to understand.

In a conversation when I asked the former leader of government of Aruba the deceased Betico Croes, what he meant by asking his bodyguard if the person siting in a taxi which was parked in front of the airport in Aruba was an Aruban, he told me that his policy is that bus and taxi licenses should only be issued to native Arubans. He said that they had to complete a special course of two months and that language was not a problem because the majority of the Arubans speak English and Spanish. He said to me every adult man is entitled to have a family, including those who cannot learn a trade or become a doctor or lawyer. So once they are taken care of, I am sure that everybody will be happy.

I believe that just like I have been hammering on civics (how the country is governed) being taught in schools from the fifth grade, so should topography and geography of St. Maarten be part of the curriculum in schools on St. Maarten.

In closing, it is time enough for us to stop accepting that St. Maarten people do not like to work. Have not we figured out yet that the St. Maarten people understand the difference between minimum wage and liveable wage? If the government would start collecting the taxes in the correct way, I do not believe, I know that every employer would be obliged to pay that which is fair to all. Also if parents are not obliged to work two and three jobs to make ends meet, they should have enough time to be home and take care of the supervision of their children with the ensuing consequences.

I have written this before and will repeat it: Every day the price of at least one article in supermarkets rises at least US $0.25.

Thank you Toastmasters.

Russell A. Simmons

Dear Editor,

Every day should be regarded as your “Emancipation Day”. It is a progression of our daily walk- in thoughts, words and deeds. Taking control of our actions, taking responsibility for our actions, taking control of our families, directing and nurturing our children – that they can take up the mantle when we have expired.

Our ancestors were not in that privileged position of the apprenticed Chinese, Indians and Europeans. How? They were given a choice and decisions were made. Advertisements were displayed in newspapers, bulletin boards, and in churches’ bulletins: they volunteered and made the necessary plans to emigrate –with their objectives in mind. Then, they were privileged to give their “goodbyes” and travel with their “treasures” or keepsakes.

Those privileges were not given to our African ancestors. They were kidnapped, held without ransom, with no discussions and kept in the European dungeons in Africa, sometimes almost one year. Branded, stripped stark naked, raped, beaten, the pregnant young girls were discarded and left behind in Africa.

The brutality continued during the trans-Atlantic course and the “nightmare” kept pursuing them on the assigned plantations across the world: the Middle-East (Java), the West Indies, North and South Americas, arriving brutalized and “in chains”. No goodbyes, no treasures to walk with, no contracts to sign – but a holocaust day and night for over 400 years.

The apprentices practiced and enhanced their cultures, but our ancestors were prevented – if they tried they were killed, maimed and beaten. Your culture is like the “seasoning of your food” – without it, your life is bland and empty.

Lest we forget

Lest we forget that our ancestors were not free – they were “chattled robots” at the whims and fancy of their masters, always directed by their owners.

Lest we forget: We were never permitted to nurture our families. Remember, our ancestors were only sperm donors procreating the machinery for the plantations. What are we now?

Let me remind you: The Triangular Passage from Africa to the assigned plantations was a daily tortuous hell for our ancestors. It took three months or more in over-packed ships, with 300-plus in the bottom of the ships. Only 18 inches space for a person, shackled to a complete stranger with no common language. No fresh air, malnutrition, diseases, beatings, rapes and killing sprees by the sailors were our ancestors’ daily experiences.

In reality, our ancestors daily lived like pigs in their “sties”: they ate, vomited, slept, and even defecated there with the constant fumes of the bodies. To get to the large tubs to defecate, two were shackled together and dragged there – plus their bodies were ripped up by the sailors’ beatings and the rough boards as a bed for three months and more.

Let me remind you: When the ships arrived in the assigned ports, misery continued as the planters prepared our ancestors for sale. Their bodies’ cuttings and wounds were sealed up with a mixture of gunpowder, lime juice and iron rust. Can you imagine the pain our ancestors bore as that mixture was poured in their cuts?

Remember, the Europeans regarded all Africans as animals and things not as humans like them. Christopher Columbus and the Spaniards said the new race were “little devils” since they were never mentioned in the Bible. On the plantations, the Africans, your ancestors, were tied up on the ground naked and rebranded on their shoulder by the owners with a red hot iron.

We should never forget that trauma of over 400-plus years and vow never to be enslaved again. That chapter in our heritage does not define us as a race and we Africans should never permit any other race to make us feel inferior.

Remember: Because of the crippled finances of the European nations in the 15^th century, the “Triangular Trade” originated. That slaving industry made them economic giants up to now: it only ended when it became foremost an economic burden, with constant rebellions on plantations, churches and civil objections in their countries.

Skillfully they were never bankrupted. How? All the european planters were compensated for their “chattles”, the loss of their properties. Those “chattles”, our ancestors whom they classified on their invoices as animals, were never compensated. It is almost 600 years, and we should feverishly endeavor to acquire reparations together..

Lest we forgot, we were derived from the first and greatest nation on earth, Africa. The attitude of the enslaver in the 15^th century is the same pervading attitude today. We of the African diaspora should never permit races to make you feel inferior nor never permit slavery again.

Consequently, your duty is to honour their memory by educating ourselves and acting dignified to elevate our race.

Lena A. Gumbs

Dear Editor,

I started writing this article on Monday and then decided to put it aside. However, later in the afternoon I received a call from a very good friend of mine and he said to me, “I wonder if George saw this article.” The article he was referring to is the one entitled “The Netherlands, Ukraine sign 10 year security deal”. He was amazed that the Dutch government refuse to write off our debt but is willing to commit over 2 billion euros to assist Ukraine for the next 10 years which amounts to some 26 billion euros. This inspired me to complete this article.

This year St. Maarten has to commence making payments towards the debt incurred during COVID-19 totalling some 300 million guilders. It is in addition to the already 12.7 million guilders being paid annually on the around 1.2 billion guilders debt. If one can recall, during the handling of the 2021 budget I submitted a motion requesting our government to discuss the issue of debt cancellation. It was unanimously supported by my 13 colleagues present at the time.

On December 19, 2022, the Dutch government apologized for slavery or their part in the slave trade. In July 2023 King Willem Alexander apologized for slavery in the Dutch and former Dutch Caribbean islands. What is missing is reparations. For me, debt cancellation is a good place to start.

I will continue to champion this cause because it is of utmost importance to our financial situation. If you do the calculation, our debt of some 1.4 billion guilders which amounts to around 700 million euros is nowhere close to the 2.6 billion euros the Dutch government has provided to Ukraine in 2023 with another 2 billion euros earmarked for this year.

On her maiden visit to St. Maarten in a meeting with us as members of the Parliament of St. Maarten, State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen had said that we are brothers and sisters. I then said to her, “If we are such, then what about debt cancellation?” Her response was that it was a hard sell and I said, “Sell it.”

I broached the matter in a discussion with Mr. Jeroen Recourt, Member of the Senate of the Netherlands, and again at the last IPKO meeting I attended in Curaçao in the latter part of February to early March 2023. Some of you might have seen a short video that was recorded of my speech. So you can again understand my disappointment but not surprise to see this article.

What cardinal sin have we committed that they are willing to invest this amount of money in their white brothers and sisters but not us? I am calling on the Members of Parliament along with the Ministers to make this matter one of great urgency, because it is.

I was assured on more than one occasion by interim Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs and interim Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion that they brought up this point on numerous occasions, but the Dutch kept ignoring or pushing it aside. I think it is time to act by first and foremost stop paying any debt to the Dutch government. Of course, this is not for the faint-hearted. But what do you do when it is in our face.

George Pantophlet

Dear Editor,

So Sunday morning I load up 7 bags of cut garden grass and tree clippings on my pickup and drive them to our town dump. At the entrance a security guard looks up from his cell and asks me where I am coming from, what’s in the bags and what is my name. I tell him: “Cole Bay, grass.” The gentleman then gets up, comes to the pickup window and says: “Your name?” I ask: “Why.” Answer: “Because I need to know your name.” I say: “Mike” and ask: “Why you need to know my name?” Answer: “Because I need your name. Suppose there is a dead body in one of those bags?” So I say: “Thank God I gave you a fake name. Now the police will never catch me,” and drive onto the dump.

When I get to the top of the mountain, a big loader is doing its thing and I get as close as is safely possible, back up and start off-loading by bags. The operator stops his huge machine and with an obvious heavy accent instructs me to reverse over a well-littered area so I can off-load even closer to heaps of other garbage.

I tell him I have on flip-flops and am not venturing into the mud and debris where I might get a nail in my foot or my tire and proceed to continue off-loading manually, while he expresses his discontent in heavy-duty Spanish. I leave him speaking with his mouth and hands, drive out the entrance where now 2 lady-security and my original man-security are all standing to give me an evil stare as I drive out. I say “Good morning” and one of the ladies returns the greeting.

Deduction: If law-abiding citizens are so harassed by dump-security and dump-loader-operators, I can understand why (except for being lazy) many persons continue to dump their garbage in the bushes all over our tourist destination. I heard we are still the Friendly Island! Our new government has MUCH work to do!!!!

Michael J. Ferrier