Dear Editor,
I would like to respond to the findings of Minister of VROMI Miklos Giterson regarding the leased land on the ring road that was given out by the previous administration’s Minister of VROMI.
The people that know me well know that I will always fight for my people. For all my years in government, and as a business owner it has always been my highest priority to empower our people. I work with them, I believe in them, I have always promoted them, and I shall always be in support of locally owned businesses. I’m a product of grassroot St. Maarten, and of a family that’s been here for many generations, and I will fight tooth and nail to make sure that all the people who wish to contribute positively to this country, are never left out of anything.
But having that said, it’s also my responsibility to ensure that we are not setting up citizens to fail, and it’s hurtful to see that not everyone is following this same basic principle. If we want to help our very people, we must encourage and guide young entrepreneurs through the process of setting up their own companies in a proper fashion.
Being an entrepreneur comes with a great responsibility, and instead of teaching young aspiring businessmen and -women to circumvent rules and go for the quick wins and low-hanging fruit, we must encourage them to follow the rules, set long term goals for the company so that their companies can be sustainable and viable, and make Sint Maarten proud with good quality products and services.
In light of the recent integrity breaches, several young Sint Maarteners will become unintentionally exposed to the scrutiny of the law which may have far-reaching consequences. Now – more than ever – we need to do the right thing, by doing things right!
Having true love for the country and its people means protecting them from harm as well. The actions and the defence of the NA further demonstrates why the Integrity Chamber is so needed. We must realise that sometimes the right thing to do is the hardest thing to do.
Member of Parliament Franklin Meyers
Dear Editor,
For the last couple of weeks, I have been visiting some neighborhoods in Sint Maarten to listen to the concerns of the people.
What strikes me the most is the situation of so many women on Sint Maarten. I am, like them, very concerned about the youth and their education, the migration situation and the struggles of the women to make ends meet on Sint Maarten.
Sint Maarten has many single women taking care of their children. Most of them are in an all-day-long working situation, sometimes working shifts or 10 to 16 hours a day to make ends meet, every month again. The consequences are, that our youth is left alone and can get involved in negative attitudes or even in crime. This has a negative effect on our social development, our economy and at the end our culture.
We have still a way to go to empower our women and make them more independent in life and to make it possible they spend more quality time with their family.
Some things can be done to break this vicious circle, which is affecting our social welfare negatively. Government needs to join with stakeholders to come up with programs to strengthen our women with handicraft-skills and entrepreneurship training and guide them in such a way that they can create their own jobs.
Government needs to look deeper into the 6 months labor contracts in the light of the labor rights.
There needs to be a match of people’s skills with what is needed on our labor market.
Furthermore, specific attention needs to be given to equality versus equal rights for women in comparison with the men. Equal treatment needs to be given to women when it comes to opportunities and salary.
The youth can be strengthened with more guidance and facilities and education to reach their full potential. We need to bring more sports activities in the lives of our youngsters, so they can maintain a proactive attitude in life.
In the National Alliance Manifesto, we strive for strengthening the youth and women! As a matter of fact, this is part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations, which gives Latin America and the Caribbean the direction to go to reach a more stable and inclusive social and economic development.
With a dynamic group of young professionals in combination with more experienced people, we are steady and ready to serve the people of Sint Maarten with the Good Governance principles on our side.
Lucrecia Morales
Candidate #15 on the National Alliance slate
My extensive political platform makes me different to most
Dear Editor,
As Candidate number 5 on the National Alliance slate, I appeal to all eligible voters of St. Maarten to cast their votes on February 26, 2018.
I am the candidate who has been championing for the establishment of District Community Councils (DCCs), whereby each District on St. Maarten would host campaigns to elect community leaders to represent them and take pertinent matters to Parliament on a quarterly basis.
Often neglected issues such as raw sewage running in the streets, and dark roads due to improper or lack of lighting to give late night workers the comfort needed to get home safely after work are just a few of many items the DCCs would bring to our elected officials. I believe that if these District Community Councils had been in place after the devastating Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the communities' cries would have been better attended to via a structured system.
In addition, I also propose the implementation of an “Essentials Card” as an ideal way to assist Government with supplying the unemployed with basic essential food items to feed themselves and their families. The Essentials Card system would eliminate food vouchers and allow Government to update the account linked directly to the card with a monthly allowance. This then provides those registered as unemployed the ability to visit supermarkets and purchase what is needed to maintain their households.
Now that many of the hotels have been damaged and are subsequently closed, my aim as an elected official tasked with representing the people of St. Maarten will be to connect people from St. Maarten with the cruise lines in a streamlined process to go onboard the vessels to work. The people of St. Maarten must play a vital role in helping the island rebuild stronger with more structure.
I believe that jobs on cruise lines will provide many benefits for those willing to take up the opportunity. Motivated persons will be able to visit various countries around the world as well as have their professional skills sharpened with onboard trainings. The most obviously attractive benefits, however, will be the ability to earn a promising salary while the job opportunities here at home are few to none, and the chance to send monies home to help families rebuild their lives.
I have an extensive political platform that makes me identifiably different to most candidates while still matching my will and determination with the National Alliance, in their fundamentals of being a Socially Democratic Party focused on the welfare of our society.
Visit my elect page on Facebook.com/voteanna to learn more. Elect Anna Rabess-Richardson on Monday, February 26, 2018.
Anna Rabess-Richardson
Candidate number 5 on the National Alliance slate
Dear Editor,
It is astounding that with all the publications on the COCI land issue that anyone to this day can believe that the issuance of land in long lease to COCI can be compared to the land issued in long lease by outgoing Minister Emanuel, to entities/persons who were either not established and/or did not have in land requests in (this based on the newspaper publication).
The proof is adding up
Dear Editor,
Again more proof why we need to get rid of the old and in with a complete new breed of politicians to govern St. Maarten.
I continue to say that fairness should prevail. Here again we are reading about what in St. Martinees we call “spite work.” Two wrongs do not make a right.
Romans 12:19, I Peter 3:9 and Deuteronomy 32:35 are among the many books in the Bible which deal with revenge or vengeance and all of them remind us that it is of God.
The public transportation is a mess (yes, any time people in government publicly accept that it is difficult to fix it, that means it is a mess) part for the greatest because some of those bogus Ministers of the past seven plus years, whether out of greed, self preservance or vengeance decided to issue bus and taxi licenses to any and everybody as if they were going out of style And today they are asking the people to permit them to make a fool of the people again.
We know who was involved in the ring road and who had manufactured government land for their own convenience. We also know who is awaiting his chance to get back at the government. But instead of others going in there and making sure that the right thing can be done they retaliated in a revengeful way by giving out land similar to how bus and taxi licenses were given out. The Minister involved openly admitted that he did it and why he did it.
Whether or not it was done according to procedures does not matter, but he too is asking for the people to put him back in government so that he could do the same thing again. Is not that blatant disrespect for the voters of St. Maarten? Does he really believe he deserves our vote?
All of this is totally not in the interest of the people of St. Maarten but solely in the interest of a chosen few. I will repeat, the SMCP was never in government, but have capable young people. If the people give them four seats St. Maarten will be on its way to be saved and respected again.
Russell A. Simmons
