Dear Editor,

  For many of us, 2017 could not end fast enough. It has been a year of unprecedented disaster in the form of Hurricanes Irma and Maria; a year in which many of our plans and even successes were blown away in six hours of pounding by a monster storm the likes of which have never been recorded in the history of the Atlantic Hurricane Season. But we are alive, by the sheer grace of God, and we hold on tenaciously to that saying that as long as there is life, there is hope.

  Hope indeed is what we cling onto in these last days of 2017, as we welcome the New Year with renewed faith, and prayers that God would shower us with His mercies and spare us the nightmare of another hurricane strike in 2018.

  For me, personally, it is with heavy heart that I remember all those who we lost not only as a result of the hurricanes, but also the many others who have transitioned to meet their Maker in the course of the year. May their souls find eternal peace in the Lord.

  None of us who began 2017 with such great expectations could have foreseen the events of last September. From a governing point of view, we were on course for one of our best years in terms of our financial performance, having presented in record time, a balanced budget to Parliament for the third successive year, and with so many other projects nearing their execution phase that were aimed at improving the quality of life and standard of living of the ordinary man and woman.

  Hurricane Irma brought about drastic and dramatic changes to every sphere of our lives, individually and collectively. However, it also revealed the resilient, never-say-die spirit of the St. Maarten people, who though knocked down by Mother Nature, refused to be counted out, and have been doing everything possible to bounce back at a rate that can only be described as amazing compared to the other islands which were ravaged by less powerful hurricanes.

  As your Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs in the last couple of years, I have worked relentlessly to uphold the Constitution of St. Maarten, before, during and in the aftermath of the September storms. I have done this, not just because of the oath that I took, but above all, because I strongly believe it was in the best interest of the people of this young country. In life, they say, one has to choose his or her battles, but there is one battle that I could not shy away from and that battle was standing up in defense of St. Maarten’s hard-fought autonomy.

  In the process, did I make some mistakes? Naturally. Nobody is perfect. To err is human. But no mistake can be greater than capitulating to what is tantamount to blackmail in the midst of a crisis caused by a natural calamity like Irma. It is my hope that when the real story of these last days and months is written, the naked truth will eventually emerge.

  For now, what is clear is that I have kept my word and will be stepping down, after 20 years, as leader of the National Alliance at our party Congress on January 3, 2018. I have absolute confidence in the person of Silveria Jacobs, who will be succeeding me. Her inspired leadership, proven particularly in these trying times, with the reopening of schools on St. Maarten in less than a month after Hurricane Irma, will surely usher in a new era for the National Alliance. It will be an era of new political achievements, of great advancement for the people of St. Maarten and a continuation of the high ideals and values which the party has upheld since its inception.

  But this is no swan song. My stepping down as leader of the National Alliance does not mean I am retiring from politics. Far from it. I ask myself every day, “is St. Maarten worth fighting for?” And the answer each time is clearly, “Yes!” “Yes!” and “Yes!” again. I know I still have the fight in me to carry on the struggle for a St. Maarten where opportunities will abound for every child, for every man and woman, to realize their full potential in peace and harmony.

  In the last 30 years of my political career, I have had the distinct privilege and honor to be elected continuously by the people of St. Maarten to represent and work for them in various capacities. I will be calling on you, the people, to once more give me your confidence as we go to the polls on February 26, 2018. I will place my record and my fate in your hands again, as I have done in the last two generations, and let you, the people and nobody else, be the judge.

  The overriding question that you will have to answer on February 26 is simple: who has stood up, against ALL odds, for St. Maarten and what is right and just and who has allowed their hunger for power get the better of them and turn them into collaborators to undermine the autonomy of our young country and open up the doors for a takeover that the people never voted for? That is the choice you will be called to make in the coming election.

  In particular, I want you to take a closer look at the last two years during which I have had the honor to serve as your Prime Minister. I am sure you will acknowledge the amount of good work that has been done in that short period, together with the rest of the coalition, until the greed of some local politicians made them surrender the keys to St. Maarten’s autonomy.

  I want to end this address on a note of gratitude. Gratitude to all of you who have supported the National Alliance throughout the years. Our party is a party of a large tent where there is room for everybody regardless of their race, color, creed, country of origin, age or even political views. Ours is a party of integrity, of hard-working, God-fearing, humble men and women who have an abiding love for St. Maarten. Together, we want to make St. Maarten a better place for our children and grandchildren.

  I want to thank the entire civil service corps for the thankless job they continue to do, no matter which party or coalition is in government. There was nothing we could have achieved without their professional contribution.

  Thanks also to all the members of the uniformed services, particularly the Police Force, the VKS, Customs and Immigration officers, the Fire Department and the employees of the government-owned companies, especially GEBE, the Princess Juliana International Airport, the Harbour, TelEm and everyone else whose efforts and sacrifices have brought St. Maarten back to where it is today, in less than four months post-Irma.

  Special thanks to all the members of my cabinet and others who have worked closely with me in the past years.

  And of course, without any doubt or hesitation, I want to thank all those entities, governments and organizations who came to our rescue in our hour of need: the Dutch government, the Curaçao and Aruban governments, the U.S. government, and people from all across the globe who were moved by the images of the destruction Irma left behind and rallied quickly to send much-needed emergency aid to us: we are eternally grateful.

  Last, but not least, I want to thank my family – my wife, Gabrielle, and children – for their love, support, understanding and sacrifice. Thank you for always having my back.

  The year ahead of us is going to be full of challenges as we dig ourselves out of the rubble Irma created – financially, economically, politically, psychologically, and emotionally. But we know, through experience, that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. I pray that God will grant us the strength and wisdom to keep going in the right direction.

  Finally, on behalf of my family and myself, I wish you and your loved ones health, peace, love and happiness in the New Year.

  God bless you, and God bless St. Maarten.

William Marlin

Former Prime Minister of St. Maarten

Dear Editor,
After experiencing the most terrible hurricane that struck this small island of ST. Maarten, this little nation has to now deal with many issues relating to the consequences of this Monster Storm.

Dear Editor,
In 2016 we publicly laid out our vision regarding the important position the Marine Industry plays in our overall tourism-based economy, including the yacht sector. As we stated: Quote; “We have a well-established marine industry in St. Maarten in terms of cruises (only few ports in the Caribbean are capable of receiving the world’s largest cruise ships – Genesis Class), cargo and yachting. Over the past decade our island has invested over US $100M in infrastructure, development and equipment, acquisition and commissioning.” Un-quote from our manifest.
The devastation of Hurricane Irma unfortunately impacted a large chunk of our land-based infrastructure, including most of the large hotels. This led to thousands of our workforce being sent home with little prospect for new employment on short term. Given this fact, it is imperative that we not lose sight of what the marine industry can mean for Sint Maarten which is good for at least 20 per cent of our GDP [gross domestic product – Ed.] in terms of local inclusive development.
Cleaning up of the Simpson Bay Lagoon from the underwater debris left after Irma, must continue unabated and unencumbered by the unfortunate political intrigues plaguing our nation.
Instead, we must put our minds together – refocus our attention to matters such as presenting creative solutions that will encourage the yachting industry to return to Sint Maarten, with the certainty that when they do so, the industry will meet a well trained locally available, professionally trained workforce that they can count on. In the interim leading up to the upgrade of this important sector of our economy, it is imperative that the local authorities, including the SLAC [Simpson Bay Lagoon Authority Corporation – Ed.] , consider the possibility of lowering the bridge fees during this season to help spur business in this sector. Mooring fees can still be charged for vessels that remain longer in our waters. Making the case for lowering bridge fees or to consider the merits of cancelling these fees for a period of three to six months, may be helpful in attracting transient vessels to stop for a few days in Sint Maarten for food provisioning, refueling, dining, etc.
Additionally, we are fully aware that a huge challenge remains in terms of finding personnel to maintain these vessels in Sint Maarten. Now is the time more than ever to work towards establishing a well-trained workforce. This has been one of our firm proposals over the years, and so far not enough effort has been made to create a good and steady basis in this regard. As our local workforce took a hard hit overall, I am convinced that many can be retrained to find gainful employment in the marine and yacht industry. Organizations that created training and upgrade possibilities waited much too long to receive approval.
Approval of the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for seafarers Code (STCW Code) is critical. This is needed to ensure a minimum level of entry for especially our young people ( over 25 per cent unemployed) who have an ambition to work in the yachts industry.
The purpose of this STCW Code is to have everyone at the same entry level in order to ensure the same high standard or basic level of knowledge which will help our younger workforce to be at par with persons from abroad who dominate this field.
The St. Maarten Sailing School is an organization that has been providing such courses for some years to our youth. An official line of approval from the government has been a firm step in the right direction in order to be hired, while stimulating the much-needed job creation in this field.
As we are near the end of a very difficult year 2017 for most of our citizens, we must still make an effort to maintain a positive outlook overall of life. In this regard, I urge the local entities in charge of the causeway and Simpson Bay bridge to do all possible and return more lights to both structures for a festive end of the old year, and a fresh new start for the new year 2018.

Gracita Arrindell
Leader, People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA)

Dear Editor,

  We all know that SZV is the most important health organization on the health being for most of the working class, whether they were sole proprietorship, join owners or companies. Each person has to contribute their share to it.

  It is compulsory for the working class to pay their insurance premiums to cover the health care.

  If the entire working class are healthy, no sickness, there will be no doctors or Medical Center/Hospital exist.

  If there were less patients, the hospital will not generate incomes to cover its cost or payment to the caretakers (employees).

  Our SZV, since 10-10-10 has made a very important role to cover the health care for most people on the island. Their collection power is excellent. Almost all companies are obliged to pay the monthly premiums to insure their workers/employees.

  There may be some abuses by some workers in the work force, but during these years, these practices have mostly been detected.

  SZV has not been paying the Hospital a fair share as the Hospital has not been in a proper financial situation for a long time.

  Institution like SZV should be there for the general interest for the people, not being there to make money. They have made monies, one can see that they bought the Government Building. It is the owner of the building.

  Polices enforced by SZV costs workers to suffer tremendously. Companies are forced to pay the premiums on time, yet workers are forced to run up and down for tit or tat and won’t have insurance to cover in the meantime.

  It hurts to see a small man, who are forced to pay their share, whether by employer or himself and doesn’t get coverage for their loved ones. The recent incident of this man who had been running back and forth to SZV to get insurance coverage for his child. With all the frustrations, he ended up in the prison. He deserves to be treated better.

  Hurricane Irma has done damage to all, but it reveals the true identity of SZV.

  If workers are forced to pay the insurance coverage and why is it that these workers are denied for the valid SZV cards?  Sending workers back for reasons beyond comprehensions. Resident permit expired, so does the insurance card. Don’t speak English, go home and learn it first before getting your insurance card (coverage), forgot to bring your last month’s payslip, without your working contract, go back and get another appointment, which takes a minimum of 3 weeks.

  In the meantime, this person has no insurance coverage while his employer continued paying/deducting monies for the premiums. What are these conditions to do with getting a valid insurance card? 

  While workers have no insurance coverage, premiums have to be paid, that is what I term it truly day time robbery.

Sau-Ying Yau

Name in English withheld at author's request