Dear Editor,

  “The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition,” says part of the Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO).

  Much has been achieved in the Americas since the establishment of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) 115 years ago on December 2, 1902.

  PAHO, the world’s oldest international public health agency, has been dedicated to protecting and advancing public health in the Americas.

  PAHO has contributed to major regional health achievements: A gain of 30 years in average life expectancy since 1902; the eradication of smallpox and polio from the Americas; the elimination of endemic transmission of measles and rubella; major reductions in infant mortality; elimination of onchocerciasis in Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico; the elimination of Chagas’ Disease in Brazil, Chile and Paraguay; the elimination of trachoma in Mexico; and the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis in Cuba and in six Caribbean islands.

  Significant expansions of health coverage have been achieved for poor and vulnerable populations in PAHO member countries.

  There has also been progress in legislation, regulations, and fiscal measures to reduce risk factors for non-communicable diseases.

  Other regional public health achievements to which PAHO has contributed include the ratification by 30 of 35 countries in the Americas of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC); the establishment of Vaccination Week in the Americas, which inspired the first World Immunization Week; Latin America and the Caribbean have the highest rates of coverage with antiretroviral treatment for people with HIV of any middle-lower-income region; Latin America and the Caribbean have the lowest infant mortality rates of any developing region.

  These achievements are all part and parcel of PAHO’s sister organization World Health Organization’s  (WHO’s) principle of health being a fundamental right.

Collective Prevention Services (CPS)

Department in the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour VSA

Dear Editor,

  I have called for a National Government consisting of a non-politically-affiliated Council of Ministers to be supervised by a Parliament consisting of all the political leaders. In addition to their short-term recovery plan, they would cover these areas in their long-term holistic approach, in addition to those I wrote about previously:

* A new agriculture policy to maximize the potential for farming and fisheries in a sustainable fashion. We need to be innovative and seek to implement new methods.

* A new health care policy which should not only include a new hospital, but which should revisit the sustainability of the proposed National Health Insurance plan.

* A new law for tertiary education and the development of a state-of-the-art accredited University. It is time we develop Sxm as the BRAIN HUB of the Caribbean to attract students from around the region and the world.

* An amended immigration policy to address the land-size limitations of the island and the availability of jobs.

* A Sxm development bank to facilitate soft loans for local entrepreneurs as well as assist in the development of affordable homes.

* A new tax system such as going to indirect taxes so that the tax burden is spread out over every single citizen and visitor on the island. This policy should include incentives to boost investment in the island locally and internationally.

* A redevelopment of our sports and cultural facilities so that the island can be promoted In those areas. Sports tourism can be a great source of revenue for the island if managed and promoted properly.

* A definition of the Sxm identity in our constitution taking into account our heritage as well as our present social demographic reality.

* A Unified Congress between the French- and Dutch-side local governments with honorary observer positions for Holland and France. An idea mentioned by the present President of the Collectivité. Please note that the reconstruction of the Dutch side absolutely needs to be carried out in synergy with the French side. All attempts should be made to unify forces to combat so many of the common ills plaguing both sides. Both local governments already control many competences such as fiscal affairs, social affairs, transportation, tourism and urban development.

  SMCP does not feel now was the appropriate timing for an election but the constitution has played out. We believe our constitution is sacred and should not be trampled on every time our immature and self-interested politicians decide to use it to spite each other or grab power. For the last 40, 30, 20 years, our people have been misled and taken for granted while our politicians have enriched themselves.

  Since we have received Status Aparte on 10-10-10, we have seen every single combination of the NA, DP, US and UP coalitions with no tangible results for the island. It is time that we break the political indoctrination which has destroyed our fabric of life, our strong middle class and show the world we can evolve as a people and embrace change. SMCP asks our people to reject vote-buying. Do not sell your future and that of your children.

  For this reason we feel it is our duty to contest the elections on February 26, 2018. We are more than ever energized to fight for the people of Sxm and bring about the much needed stable government the island will require to rebuild and reintroduce a strong middle class among our people.

  Integrity, Transparency, Accountability and ethics should not be used as words only during a campaign or on a rubber wristband. Instead they need to become our way of life as a people and definitely for our leaders of the future.

  With stability in mind, we will be asking the population to WAKE UP and vote for a change. It is time we introduce new blood into our political system. After 6 governments in 7 years, it should be more than evident that the present older party leaders and older politicians from the Island Council days are the very same politicians failing the island year in, year out for decades.

  If given overwhelming support, SMCP will seek to form a Multi-Partisan Coalition majority of Parliamentarians across all party lines who will in turn appoint a non-politically-affiliated Council of Ministers to rebuild St. Maarten over the period of 2018-2022. Only the Prime Minister position could be selected from the parties if that candidate can receive unanimous support from this coalition.

  It is time we end the fighting to own a Minister and focus on becoming an island with an exemplary Government apparatus, Parliament and Soceity. Both the Multi-Partisan Parliamentary Coalition and the Non-Political COM will seek to work in an accountable and transparent manner with the Kingdom Government (including Aruba, Curaçao, Saba and Statia), the Collectivité of St. Martin and the French government.

  Now more than ever it is time all four governments to honor our forefathers and exemplify the spirit of the Treaty of Concordia which was based on the cohabitation of our people.

  The Post-Irma Legacy for our future generations should be a new St. Martin/St. Maarten: one island, one people, one destiny forever!

Claude Chacho Peterson

St. Maarten Christian Party (SMCP)

Dear Editor,

  It is good to hear the Association of Dutch Municipalities VNG delegation is here to identify areas the organization can assist St. Maarten with its structural recovery in the coming years.

  As a former Member of Parliament and Minister, I advise government to let them assist in setting up a Strategic Climate Change plan. This is the right time for us to structurally set up such a plan to address climate change. Government should ask Holland to urgently provide significant financial, technical and other resources to assist St. Maarten in adapting to climate change and building systems for us to remain resilient in the increase in weather activity such as the threats posed by a tsunami and earthquakes.

  Curacao has a strategic climate change plan which I have given government to use as a model to develop our plan for the country. We have to wake up to the fierce urgency of addressing climate change to protect our shorelines and people. I have too often heard some of our people saying that they went through Hurricane Luis.

  We have to understand that future hurricanes would likely get stronger and more frequent. This year's hurricane season is already the most violent on record and it will become both stronger and more common as the world warms due to climate change.

  Climate change is no longer some far off problem; it is happening here, it is happening now. We need to put structural plans and amend our building code to protect our shorelines, hills, Simpson Bay Lagoon, Kimsha, Beacon Hill, Philipsburg, Cul De Sac Basin, Cupecoy and other flood-prone low lying areas.

  God forbid if we were to get a tsunami. Do we have anything in place to protect our shorelines and people? We need to educate our people of what to do in case of a tsunami, or a massive earthquake.

  Our public sirens on the poles to alarm our people don't even work anymore. The Simpson Bay Lagoon is not a safe haven for boats during the hurricane season.

  VNG can also assist us in putting a structural country-wide drainage system in place. Flooding is a major issue in St. Maarten and it needs to be addressed post haste before the next hurricane season. A lot of our major guts are blocked and need to be cleared for the water to flow freely to the Salt Pond and then to the Rolandus Canal.

  We need to put preventive measures in place to protect our people from climate change to our shorelines, tsunami and flooding for the entire island. It's a collective accountability that we need to address this issue.

  I advise that this should be a joint project of the French and Dutch side of the island, because we also see the devastation to low lying areas in Marigot, Lowlands, Sandy Ground, Grand Case and French Quarter.

  Scientific analysis shows that the climate of the Caribbean region is already changing. For a region that is used to seeing hurricanes, I have never experienced the intensification of a tropical storm to a category five Hurricane within a day. We are seeing intense hot days, intense rainfall even causing massive flooding and rising sea levels that are consuming our beautiful beaches in which tourism and our locals depend on for their daily income.

  Hurricane Irma’s ferocity destroyed even some of our strongest hurricane shelters and buildings.

  Imagine the small island of Barbuda, for the first time has no human inhabitants.

I advise government to asked VNG to assist us in developing a strategic climate change plan for St. Maarten and to assist us with developing a structural master plan to deal with our country-wide drainage issue.

  This is the time for us to come together and put preventive measures in place to address climate change. We also need to put a community educational plan in place to educate our people what to do in case of a tsunami, earthquake and major flooding of our island. And who better to ask for assistance than the Dutch who are known worldwide for building above and under water structures?

Maurice Lake

Dear Honorable Governor Holiday,
By means of this letter, I wish to hereby bring this urgent matter to your immediate attention as The Governor of Sint Maarten and The Representative of The Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and King Willem-Alexander, charged with the responsibility to ensure good governance and legal certainly as laid down in The Kingdom Charter Article 43.
“1. Each of the countries ensures the realisation of fundamental human rights and freedoms, legal certainty and the soundness of governance.
“2. The guarantee of these rights, freedoms, legal certainty and
soundness of government is the affair of the Kingdom.”
I am hereby exercising my fundamental right to petition the relevant authority. According to the Constitution of Sint Maarten, Article 24 paragraph 1, “Everyone shall have the right to submit petitions in writing to the competent authorities.” Therefore, as a Concerned Citizen of Sint Maarten, I am addressing the violation of the Constitution of Sint Maarten by the Honorable Members of Parliament.
Since Sint Maarten became an autonomous Country within the Kingdom of The Netherlands on 10 October 2010, I have seen where the Government and even more alarmingly the Elected Members of Parliament who are primarily responsible for making the Laws on Sint Maarten have violated the Constitution. The continuous violation and compromising of the laws laid down in the Constitution of Sint Maarten have in the past and will continue to bring Constitutional Crises and Economic Disaster to Sint Maarten in the future if this irresponsible disregard for the Constitution of Sint Maarten is not addressed by someone of your capacity. The Parliament of Sint Maarten should not be passing laws with less than two-thirds majority support of the serving members.
The Constitution of Sint Maarten, Article 61.2 states that “Resolutions are carried by an absolute majority of the votes cast unless this Constitution provides otherwise.”
Article 129 paragraph 2 does provide and state otherwise: “Parliament may not approve a draft national ordinance or resolve to propose it for endorsement without a majority of at least two thirds of the votes cast by the serving members.”
This minimum requirement for passing Draft National Ordinances as demanded by our Constitution, which is two thirds of the votes cast of the serving members, was chosen and established when the Constitution was being crafted. The change from the conventional two thirds of the votes cast (as stated in Article 42.4 of The Kingdom Charter) to the more stringent arrangement of two thirds of the votes cast of the serving members (as stated in Article 129 of the Constitution of Sint Maarten) was an authorised change by the Kingdom Government who along with the Members of the island Council at the time, reviewed, accepted and passed into law the said Draft National Ordinance we now call The Constitution of Sint Maarten.
The facts of this change are also supported by the Explanatory Notes to the Constitution of Sint Maarten Chapter 9 Final Provisions where it states the following: “Article 129: Altering the Constitution: The procedure for the alteration of this Constitution is substantively consistent with Article 42(2) of the Charter for the Kingdom and Article 149 of the Constitution of the Netherlands Antilles.”
A not insignificant difference, however, is the more stringent procedure prescribed for alteration of the Constitution. While the Charter for the Kingdom requires a majority of two thirds of the votes cast, this draft, in accordance with the Constitution of Aruba and the draft Constitution of Curacao, requires a two thirds majority of the serving members. This more stringent procedure reinforces the assurance character of the Constitution.
On the basis of Article 42 of the Charter for the Kingdom the Constitution, assuming 15 members, could already be altered with six votes; (Six (6) is two thirds (2/3) of nine (9), so nine (9) would have been the required minimum in order to convene a meeting in the first instance instead of eight (8) as is now being illegally practiced by our Parliament).
According to this draft (i.e. the Constitution of Sint Maarten), at least 10 votes are required for that purpose. The government of the Kingdom accepted this more stringent procedure for the Constitution of Aruba in 1986 and more recently did so again in its views of the draft Constitution of Curaçao.
Even though Article 42.2 of the Kingdom Charter says “The Constitutions of the Netherlands Antilles and of Aruba are established by ordinance. Any proposal for the amendment of the Constitutions shall explicitly describe the proposed amendment. The representative assemblies shall adopt a Bill for a country ordinance of this kind only by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast,” the more stringent procedure was adopted In the Kingdom Charter Act, “Text of the Staff Regulations for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as lastly amended by the Rijkswet Amendment of the Staff Regulations in connection with the Abolition of the Dutch Antilles” published on November 23, 2010 9:00, where the Kingdom Government authorized the change and the incorporation of the more strict procedure of two thirds of votes of the serving members as being the minimum requirement for the Parliament of Sint Maarten to alter the Constitution legitimately through Draft National Ordinances.
One of the conditions of the successful rite of passage of the Draft National Ordinance (which we now call our Constitution), was Article 60a of the Kingdom Charter, which says, “1. The designs for a Constitution of Curaçao, respectively of Sint Maarten, drawn up by the Island Councils of Curaçao and Sint Maarten by Island Ordinance, shall be granted at the time of the entry into force of Articles I and II of the Kingdom Act amending the Staff Regulations in connection with the abolition of the Netherlands Antilles the State of Constitution of Curaçao, respectively of Sint Maarten, if: a. the opinion of the government of the Kingdom has been obtained before the design has been presented to the relevant island council, or before an initiative design has been investigated by the relevant island council; b. the design has been accepted by the relevant island council with at least two thirds of the votes cast, and c. the Government of the Kingdom has agreed to the draft established by the relevant Island Council.”
In light of the above it is safe to conclude that all alterations to the Constitution through Draft National Ordinances can only become Law if the National Ordinances are voted on and supported by a minimum of two-thirds (2/3) or ten (10) Members of the fifteen (15) Serving Members.
Kindly request Your Excellency to directly address this matter without delay and I shall await your response in writing.

Lisa L Alexander
Concerned Citizen
Cc: The Kingdom Government of the Netherlands
Honorable Chairman Mark Rutte