Dear Editor,
Nearly six months after parts of the Caribbean were ravaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria the situation remains far from normal. Or perhaps it should simply be accepted that there is a new normal in place. And that’s not a particularly good thing.
St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport was trashed by the storm. The main terminal building is no longer a viable operation. PJIA recently opened a temporary “pavilion” to handle passengers. That tented facility includes check-in counters and some concessions, major improvements to the prior post-storm work. And unlike the “temporary” facility at Dulles airport this one truly is intended to serve a short-term role.
The airport faces some $100mm in repair costs according to its COO Michel Hyman and getting those paid could prove interesting. The government-owned facility is insured but some on the island are questioning the remuneration process and just how much of the policy payout will ultimately be reinvested in the facility.
MP (Member of Parliament) Perry Geerlings in particular is challenging decisions made around the demolition and reconstruction process. In a recent Parliamentary hearing Geerlings questioned the need for three insurance adjusters to handle the claim. Each will take a significant chunk of the settlement funds as their fee, potentially leaving the government on the hook for funding more of the repair than expected.
Hyman suggests that the demolition and rebuild work could be completed in as little as 9 months. Given the limited progress so far that seems a terribly optimistic outlook. The airport must also contend with passenger numbers down some 70 per cent year over year on a similar capacity decline. With much of the tourism infrastructure on the island still out of service those numbers should not come as much of a surprise. Even with the airport rebuilt those numbers are expected to remain depressed as the other recovery efforts languish.
Just over 100 miles to the west the St. Croix airport also moves towards recovery, though that work is more focused on the business jet side of the ledger. Bohlke International Airways is the sole service provider at St. Croix’s Henry E. Rohlsen Airport and its facilities were also trashed by the storms. It operates today from another hangar at the field that remained in place after the hurricanes tore through.
By next year Bohlke hopes to have a new, 20,000 square foot hangar in service. The new facility will allow Bohlke to serve larger aircraft than it could prior to the storm. The company hopes this will give it – and the island of St. Croix – a leg up on the neighboring competition. The fact that portions of the island are still without power or full tourism facilities suggests that it could be some time before that investment pays off with significant returns.

Aviation industry analyst Seth Miller of PaxEx.Aero

The Laws of St. Maarten

Dear Editor,

The Laws of St. Maarten is a five-volume English translation of the original Dutch publication of the Constitution and other laws established for governing the territory of St. Maarten within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

These national ordinances, also called organic laws, were first published in Dutch following St. Maarten’s attainment of an autonomous status within the Kingdom of the Netherlands on October 10, 2010, and appear online in the official National Gazette.

The ordinances in The Laws of St. Maarten are not an exhaustive collection of the government laws but are those that have translated to date in English, the language of the people of the island of St. Martin which, along with Dutch, is one of the two official languages of St. Maarten.

These volumes are thus also about widening the people’s right to access – in book form – the laws of the land, laws about their rights, and legislation and information about the range of the government process relative to St. Maarten’s autonomy.

To the extent that the five volumes of The Laws of St. Maarten keep the people generally in the know about their government, and more specifically about laws passed by the St. Maarten Parliament that govern their lives, may this publication add to the development of democracy and freedom in St. Maarten in particular and the island as a whole.

For the month of February 2018 the five-volume The Laws of St. Maarten can be purchased at the reduced price of US $50 per set at Van Dorp Bookstores on Illidge Road and in Simpson Bay.

We encourage every citizen on St. Maarten to buy and READ The Laws of St. Maarten.

Infomedia Foundation

Dear Editor,
I met the man for the second time almost where I met him first. Close to the University and Government building. By the way, should it not have a better name than Government Building? There was a time it was called the Pigeon Coop. Now it should better be called the Pigs Coop. My friend is a dark skin local who reads the newspaper. He has eyes and ears and a working brain. We talked about the obvious, the smell stink of overheated oils and plastic that lingers there, invisible like a secret chemical attack. Sadam was eh no, now it is Assad who is accused of using poison gas and is, therefore, a terrorist. I feel terrorized by the politicians.They are terrorists. There is a war going on on terrorism.
I explained to my friend the sneak attack on our health. Invisible toxins are seeping into the air, stinking of volatile gases that are barely suppressed from igniting with ... you guessed it, other chemicals. The shame of the parliamentarians must be so destructive in their minds that their brains have stopped functioning. There are solutions, protocols, manuals, there is advice, addresses from factories that can bring the so-long-wanted waste-processing plant.
Those who have the power to make it work have barred the project for at least 20 years, as long as I was around. That the idea ever came up before my curiosity I know not. But in the time of Albert Fleming and later Denis Richardson, did I provide addresses of makers of these waste processors.
12,000 dollars a month these gangsters allot themselves as salaries. Boasting the title of (Honorable?) Minister, Parliamentarian, but Civil Servants is what they are. Shamelessly they serve only themselves, not the civilians, we, the people out of uniform. They ransack the Department of Finances and earn more than Russian President Putin. 12 month of 12,000 makes 144K $$ per year. President Putin earns $112K a year. Are these gangsters in the Pig Coop real? Governing a rock lost in the ocean,
St. Maarten is in size about half of North Holland island of Texel. Let that sink in a moment. How many elites are there that get this exorbitant high salary for doing nothing? If 10, they squander 1,440,000, almost one-and-a-half million dollars a year. The cost of a waste processing plant may be like that. Or two years. I have no details as to how many individuals get that much, those that know, tell me. How much in total is the cost of the whole crew in the Coop? Fire them and finance that plant.
Back to the terror toxic air attack we civilians are under. What do the terrorists want? More money, how is it possible? Is there not one wise man who gets to push the Real World on this godforsaken rock?
In ancient China politicians and government got the blame for natural disasters. It was from their misconduct that nature takes a stand. Irma was Mother Nature's anger at our politicians. The stormy weather we have these days is Nature’s anger over the dump fires. Father Sea, Emperor King God Neptune, is angry about the poisoning of the clean air coming over the ocean. I love the ancient wise people of China. They wrote down observations that still today carry much weight. In a few days starts the Year of the Dog. Google what that may bring.
Ranting makes little improvement on the situation. But a general strike out of protest could wake up the government.
Let students and/or other youngsters go from house to house to collect signatures of people who want the waste processing plant to be built right away. Not “just now,” but Now. Force the cabal to give up their stealing and greed and force them to finance that plant!. Put it on the road to Oyster Pond so the French can sell their waste to it too. Or between Port de Plaisance and the bridge and French border.
Force the cabal to build the plant. Force them by the only power we have and that is striking. Strike the false flag. Stop working. Sit still and move not, speak not, drive not, just stop doing what you were doing. Stop the car. Step off of your bike. For an hour at first. When there comes no action, threaten to strike 2 hours. Get it on the radio. On the government's radio to announce the strike a few days coming.
The dump is the main ingredient in this rant, but there is also the ring road around the salt pond. Would that cost a yearlong an X number of ministers' salaries?
And forget the BS new international hospital as long as you have not enough personnel in the existing facility. And still they have to repair ceilings and fans and whatnot. Otherwise, our SMMC is full of very helpful and a few very knowledgeable people. They try their best to get the patients, these damaged sick entities, just things almost out again. I have been there several times. And I am doing very fine just now. I live upwind from the dump, heavens grace.
As a goodbye, I am sick and tired of the car-pushing cabal. With no pay interest loans (Muslim Bank?) they force people into debt that they have hardly paid off when the car starts falling apart. That is as it is, but they do not give an F about the lack of roads. More cars is a must, but more roads are too hard for them to comprehend. Dump 1, roads 2, xxxx 3, fill in yourself the next scandalous neglect the terror cabal is guilty of.
With my integer self, divine knowledge and grace for the gift of wisdom.

Chamba Chada

SMCP is not associated with any political party

Dear Editor,

It is being rumored that the Sint Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) is an off-shoot of the DP, a satellite of the NA and that it is financed by the UPP. After the merger of UPP and DP into the UD, we are hearing that SMCP will work together with the UD after the election. As SMCP will not count its chickens before they are hatched, it is time to put these rumors to rest and to let the people know how SMCP started and who really is behind this party.

SMCP was founded in November of 2015 in response to the many cries from the people of Sint Maarten concerning the ship-jumping games being played in Parliament as well as the serious lack of accountability, integrity, transparency, honesty, etc. in Government. The lack of these principles and values was substantiated by three integrity reports (two international) as well as the 2014 report issued by the General Audit Chamber of Sint Maarten.

Actually, SMCP started many years ago when pastors, church leaders and lay persons from both sides of the island came together to pray for the governments and for the island in general. We prayed, out of concern and for the love of Sint Maarten, for change.

Praying for the island is a very good thing but prayer without action is futile. In a joint prayer meeting (French and Dutch sides), held on November 9, 2014, God directed us to get involved and to make a difference in our country by actively participating in parliament and government.

At that time it was anticipated that the next election would take place in 2018. However, with the premature breakup of the Gumbs Government on September 30, 2015, and new elections being called, several Christian leaders decided that it was time to establish a new party based on Christian principles and values. And so, on November 4, 2015, the Sint Maarten Christian Party was established, offering the people of Sint Maarten change, hope, integrity, accountability, transparency and stability.

The Today newspaper wrote that the SMCP marked “a novelty in the local political landscape, because this will be the first-ever political party that is actually based on an ideology.” Even though the party’s ideology is strongly rooted in Christian principles we want to make it clear that SMCP is not a church organization. When elected to office, SMCP’s governing strategies and decisions will be based on its core values and principles which are very much lacking in parliament, in government as well as in our society.

While SMCP was being founded, the authors of the Articles of Incorporation had no discussion at all with any of the existing political parties. Neither did SMCP seek or receive favors or financial compensation from any of the current political leaders or parties.

Let it also be noted that, SMCP never requested the UPP to send members to endorse its list on August 9, 2016. In addition, SMCP has no pre-election agreement regarding forming a coalition with any of the existing political parties. SMCP is an independent political party and is not tied or duty-bound to any of the current parties or their leaders.

The members of the SMCP Association hail from all walks and sectors of society and not only from churches. Our candidates are persons who believe strongly in the core principles of the party and who have pledged to carry out their duties in parliament based on these principles. SMCP has even gone so far as to refuse finances from donors if the party is of the opinion that the donation may conflict with its principles.

SMCP’s goal is to offer the people of Sint Maarten good governance and a stable parliamentary coalition as well as a stable government. Since 10-10-10 our politicians have formed several coalitions but none of them lasted a full term. SMCP has some proposals that can lead to greater stability in parliament and government. We intend to share these suggestions with you in a subsequent article early next week.

Wycliffe Smith

Leader of the Sint Maarten Christian Party