Dear Editor,

We all agree that Sint Maarten is terribly off in the wrong direction. Following the devastation of Hurricane Irma, programs and policies are not sufficiently coherent and interconnected five months after. At first glance while it may seem that there is economic activity overall, many of our citizens and businesses are having a real hardship making ends meet. Beneath the surface of their daily existence, the quality of life of our people has seriously deteriorated, businesses continue to struggle to keep personnel or they are being laid off. Amidst all this turbulence and uncertainties, new snap elections have been called. Why?

The bluff of the people has been called by those political parties who failed our citizens miserably in their representation of their duties, especially in the last couple of years.

PPA believes that the people and only the people have the opportunity to decide which political party has the appropriate vision and programs, transparency in decision making for the future direction of this beautiful island. Staying home out of understandable frustration, or to “spite” all parties, is not helpful. Not casting your vote will, most likely than not, keep the same parties in office.

Because of the uncertainties and clear reasons to the voters why we must once again go to the polls in less than 18 months, while a normal election cycle is four years, it is imperative to have observers on Sint Maarten to witness this most important democratic process. There is too much at stake.

After the polls are closed, we must all be assured that people voted their conscience and that the electoral process was conducted in a free and fair manner.

Having observers in Sint Maarten is nothing new. At the time of our first referendum which was successfully organized and held in 1994, being the chairman of the referendum committee, we invited among others a (Mr. Nour-Edine) United Nations representative to be present and witness the Referendum. We had a very pleasant and professional working relationship as well with former Ambassador for the United Nations Drs. Lucita Moenir-Alam, who guided us through the process of our first referendum. Her experience and support was invaluable.

Another example of observers being part of an electoral process on the islands of the former Netherlands Antilles is the fact that during the last elections held on the island of Curaçao, Sint Maarten as well as Aruba, including international organizations such as the CARICOM and OAS were invited and participated fully as observers.

Why not extend a similar courtesy and invite the aforementioned entities including from the Netherlands to be present?

It’s not too late for the interim Council of Ministers to do the right thing and extend this invitation to have a delegation of observers present. In the interest of safeguarding the democratic process guiding our elections, especially after our citizens have experienced great personal and material losses followed by loss of faith in our political leaderships at both the Government and Parliament level, it’s imperative to have a sense of comfort and confidence that all processes and procedures are open and transparent before, during and after the polls are closed and the votes are counted.

Gracita Arrindell

Leader, People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA)

Dear Editor,

I read in astonishment that the current Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin and the Finance Minister Michael Ferrier will be travelling to Brussels to seek funding for a joint Dutch-side/French-side solution to waste management to solve the dump crisis. From what I’ve come to understand, both Ministers have either left the island already or are slated to leave by Tuesday of this week.

Now, I would like to put this in perspective. The present Minister of VROMI Miklos Giterson stated on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, February 7, 2018 that he was yet to study the documents on a possible waste-to-energy solution that was approved by the previous Council of Ministers, as proposed by then-Minister of VROMI [Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure – Ed.] Christophe Emmanuel. This is the same minister who in his first press briefing on January 17, 2018, indicated that finding a solution to the landfill would be his highest priority. So, what have you been busy with, Minister Giterson, between January 15, 2018, and February 7, 2018, that you were unable to study the documents?

With high anticipation, I awaited the continuation of the Parliament meeting on Friday February 9, 2018. Shockingly this urgent meeting was postponed by the Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin. WHY?? What could be a valid reason to postpone the meeting, while the dump was still on fire with smoke billowing in Philipsburg for FIVE consecutive days? With civil servants having to work in a building that reeked of smoke and citizens urgently in need of government services suffering under the same conditions.

Now we know the reason for the postponement. The Ministers in this government are acting like sheep being led to the slaughter!

State Secretary Knops made a statement to the Prime Minister that made it clear to me. “I was in Brussels last week and you will go to Brussels soon.” So in other words, this Government has chosen to follow an “instruction” from the Netherlands by way of State Secretary Knops, instead of taking at least a day to review the decisions that are already on the table for a solution to our landfill problem.

So, I have to ask Minister Giterson the following. When will we get the answers to the questions posed by the Members of Parliament? When will we get to hear from you as Minister of VROMI about what transpired over the years and where we are at today as it relates to a solution for the landfill? Why has it been decided for the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance to travel to Brussels on a matter that pertains to your portfolio?

I would like the “Super 8” and their Ministers to tell the people of this country why they have chosen to take another trip on our expense as citizens to BEG for money, which we can already guess will not be a grant. Why they are hell-bent to make us a country of beggars? How much debt they intend to sink this country in, rendering our grandchildren and their grandchildren in a spiral of debt?

Name withheld at author's request.

Dear Editor,

My friends the Dutch, SXM Governor, Ombudsman, Theo, Frans, Silveria Jacob, Sarah, Cornelius, Emil Lee and the Chief Of Police, we the public is calling on you all to help St Maarten have a small claims court.

And also we the people of St Maarten is pleading to you all from our heart and soul, give the law and power to St Maarten policemen to pick up money from bad paymasters to pay whoever they owe. There are many reports the police receiving from the public such someone owes them and they need the police assistance.

Both the police and the Detectives of St. Maarten keep saying the law are not given to them to go picking money from these wicked bad paymasters.

Now l quote (read my lips) St. Maarten has over 100 nationalities both citizen of Caricom and citizen the United Nations and elsewhere. We talk about Recovery 24/7. Why Frans Richardson did not put a law for police to pick up money from bad paymasters? And let St Maarten have its small claims court?

So when the construction poor man don’t get pay after working in the burning sun where he must go?

Police often tell the people get a lawyer. This not right. Before you sit down to talk to a lawyer you have to pay consultation fees. Time case call constructor leave the Island with the money (and they all know this).

It is time those in authority come together as one and get off these old laws from the table. You all got the public supports to 24/7.

Cuthbert Bannis

Dear Editor,

St- Eustatius, a Public Entity of the Netherlands, was recently placed under direct Dutch rule after the “Committee of Wise Men” concluded in its report that there is a “gross neglect of duties” on St Eustatius. The report further characterized the administrative situation on Statia by lawlessness and financial mismanagement, but the report was also critical of the Dutch Government’s role in the development of the situation in Statia.

In 2009, the UK government imposed direct British rule on the Turks & Caicos Islands for three years, after evidence of government corruption and incompetence was found. This move was met with strong political and regional resistance and condemnation, but the British Government was convinced that this was the way to go and claimed that the islanders would welcome the British with open arms, the latter proved not to be entirely the case.

In the case of Statia, the “Committee of Wise Men” recommended this measure after reviewing published reports and after conducting interviews with 70 individuals out of a population of 3,200, which is equivalent to 2 per cent of the Statian population. The ‘Committee of Wise Men’ argued that imposing direct rule was necessary because the island government had ruled out any form of dialogue with its Dutch counterparts. The Committee further argued that such a measure would be met with accusations of “neo-colonialism” but that the majority of Statians would be welcoming of this intervention, this based on consultations with just 2 per cent of the Statian population.

The dissolution of democratically elected representatives in dependent overseas territories, while stripping the citizens of their voice, seems to be the applied strategy of choice when the democratically elected representatives of said dependencies start to “misbehave.” Both the Dutch and the UK government argued that the imposition of direct rule in their territories were in accordance with their country’s constitution. One could however argue whether such a measure, whereby an unelected British or Dutch official assumes all power to govern at “will” for a period of years in its “territory” without the organization of local elections, is truly the right thing to do.

Mr. Galmo Williams the former premier of the Turks & Caicos Islands until direct British rule was imposed said, “We will never be able as a nation to move forward [if] every time we reach a crossroads our rights get taken away, our freedom gets taken away." Mr. Williams describes the problematic relation that exists between the administering power and its dependency, namely the belief that the administering power must rescue the islanders out of the hands of their corrupt and incompetent representatives, while at the same time reinforcing a sense of helplessness in the hearts and minds of the islanders, who usually say, “Let the Dutch/British come” when governing and social challenges arise in the territory.

Instead of imposing direct rule in Statia, a neutral third party (preferably outside of the Dutch Kingdom) could have been solicited to mediate between both governments. Or the people of Statia could have been asked via a consultative referendum, if they were desirous of direct Dutch rule.

The continuous practice of stripping islanders of their voice when the dependent territory “misbehaves” can not only be viewed as the exertion of power but also as a morally unjust practice.

Xiomara Balentina

Brighter Path Foundation