Dear Editor,
Many people tell me they appreciate the explanation on political ideology, but they ask me for some specific on St.Maarten democracy.
Democracy quite literally means 'rule by the people', so it's a concept rather than an ideology.
However, one's belief that democracy is an ideal form of government would be considered an ideology.
In the preamble the constitution of St.Maarten it states and I quote “WE, THE PEOPLE OF SINT MAARTEN AFFIRM that we acknowledge the guiding principles of Almighty God as the core of our values.”
It is a beautiful statement but in reality we all know it is a lie. Because the boundaries which is the Dutch Kingdom constitution allows abortion and homosexuality those are not CORE VALUES OF GOD.
Our St.Maarten constitution must remain within the boundary of the Dutch Kingdom constitution. And with all respect to St. Maarten Constitution and Netherlands Constitution which is very much Liberal and surely not Godly is already a deception. The law pertaining to article 59 states
1. Parliament may be dissolved by national decree.
2. An order for dissolution shall also require new elections to be held for Parliament which has been dissolved and the newly elected Parliament to meet within three months.
3. The dissolution shall take effect on the day on which the newly elected Parliament meets.
In a real democracy where the parliament is put by the people, only the people should have the right to vote them out. That is the difference between a Republic and Monarchy. A republic is the U.S.A. and our Dutch Kingdom is a democratic Monarchy.
Article 59 is a bad law which in fact is an insult to democracy and causes unnecessary expenses by holding elections which should not be held. Article 59 should be repealed. A repeal is the removal or reversal of a law.
There are two basic types of repeal, a repeal with a re-enactment (or replacement) of the repealed law, or a repeal without any replacement.
There are some laws in our constitution that have to be repealed and there are some laws that should be enacted to make St.Maarten Constitution favor the electorate and not the politician. Presently because of article 59 we are forced to hold election and spend money our country St.Maarten cannot afford.
This article 59 is definitely not a St. Maarten value.
The solution to avoid ship-jumping is for people to understand political ideology, because you should only join a political party when you understand first what that party’s ideology is and see if you agree with most of the doctrines to know if you can accept and abide by their beliefs. And the main 2 are Liberal or conservative. As I said before all St. Maarten political parties are liberal.
St. Maarten politicians do not have the stamina to change or challenge it because they need lessons on how to repeal a law or more important the courage to repeal a law.
The purpose of a parliament is not only to protect the people but to establish a good quality of life for the population of the country. The parliament should establish laws to empower the people so they can help themselves as much as possible. Good laws make less need of government, bad laws create need for big government which usually leads to dictatorial government.
The conclusion is article 59 should be repealed.
The Patriot Miguel Arrindell
Dear Editor,
In your editorial of Monday, January 29, 2018, two statements stood out: “the remedy is worse than the cure” and “delaying such even more does not serve the general interest.”
I am not interested whether the election is delayed or not because there should not have been any toppling of government in the first place, adding confusion and pain to the thousands of people who have been affected by the passing of Irma and Maria.
Did it really have to take a Holland, to show us how to jointly come to a consensus in time of calamity and explain to us that the remedy is worse than the cure? (I would say that the remedy is worse than the damage, but let me stick to what is written.) That is something the old people use to say.
My father, who always pressed on us to speak correctly, would use the term “in proportion to” and to explain it he would say, “You don’t kill a man because he stole a bread.”
This is again giving Holland ammunition to do what they want with us because we cannot even come together for what is one of the basic rules of thumb in governing a country, which is “to serve the general interest.” Yet we earn more than $140,000 per year, which is more than all the other members of government within the kingdom, to govern 16 square miles of land with about 60,000 inhabitants.
The president of the United States of America earns $400,000 a year to govern more that 350 million inhabitants. I maintain that their premise remains “what’s in it for me” and as long as there is nothing in there for me I cannot think logically. It becomes like second nature, so I believe this to be the case again, but this time it makes them look like dummies.
They opt to accept the lesser of two evils because the people will forget the dumb things they did, but this time they know it will be too obvious that they do not care about the people so they are not taking the chance to tell the people that they were wrong to throw down the government, in the middle of all the predicament.
This is more proof of why I maintain that all of them have to go. And we do not need any mentors for the incoming young politicians. Mentors are brainwashers. The young politicians need advisers. Mentors manipulate one into taking the decisions they would take, advisers explain what is the correct way and one makes a decision based on what one envisions for the people who afforded the opportunity to serve.
By the way, what makes those who are vying for a seat in Parliament (in my case a veteran) think that everyone is pleased to be called by phone any hour of the day or night, asking for their vote? Again more proof of unscrupulous behavior on their part.
Some people are not going to be pleased. As long it is a way to get me some votes I do not care about those who are not pleased. People who have elderly who are sick, and are getting these calls, do not know if it is an emergency or not, and are disorientated by these calls. They do not want phone calls at night, and for that matter not even during the day if they are not expecting a call.
Should they not be asking us or explaining to us what can be done to facilitate us in finding ways in how to cope with the incurring bills as a result of the passing of Irma and Maria?
The young ones are intelligent; the majority of them have good education; they are not in the claws of the business people; by now they are aware of the fact that not knowing what is written in the Constitution of Sint Maarten (and the Kingdom) is suicidal for any politician; they will have to learn the rules of order of parliament and I have confidence in the Council of Advice.
Out with all the old and in with the new.
Russell A. Simmons
Dear Editor,
We are Canadians who visit St. Maarten and read a recent article about a local youth threatening the police and subsequently arrested. As a former police officer I applaud the officers for immediately taking action.
What does concern me is why there appeared to be little police presence in St. Maarten immediately following Hurricane Irma. I have seen videos taken in the weeks after the hurricane and the videos not only showed widespread looting but, in one video, it showed a looter leaving Ace Hardware, arms full of stolen goods and sauntering past a police cruiser – roof light on – and it appeared nothing was done.
I still read reports of people looting building materials from heavily damaged businesses/buildings, but I'm not reading a lot of stories about arrests.
This is concerning for future tourism ... we need to know that SXM is not a high-crime area.
Jim and Judy Quai
Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Dear Editor,
It is reassuring to hear from my comrades that we are SXM Strong. But I would like to remind them that we have been a God-fearing people. I believe that there is a halo around St. Maarten/St. Martin. Some people still believe that hurricanes and earthquakes are acts of God. But according to my understanding of the Bible, they are a direct result of man’s sin.
So we are SXM Strong because God heard our Lamentation during our darkest hour. It was divine providence. As He did with Job, he allowed the evil one to shake us up just enough to remind us that the God of Light is in charge of the universe. So while we have been contemplating on changing our social mores in conformity with the wild world, remember that we have been spared to be a beacon for the world.
Comrades, we have a lot to thank God for. We have been to hell and back. This is a new year, comrades. Let us rebuild our country taking the plight of the poor and the aged into consideration. This land is ours. God gave this land to us. Now is the time to set it on the right track.
Because St. Martin is our home – thank you Lino Hughes. Do you love St. Martin – thank you X-rey. Because St. Martin loves you – thank you King Beau Beau. Sunshine City keep on shining – thank you Guy “Guito” Hodge. Because you are the number one – thank Lion (R.I.P.). We love St. Martin Rhumba – thank you Mighty Dow.
Julien Petty
Plan of Action for Mental Health Foundation Guided Living Project
Dear Editor,
As a community spirited person and the former Minister of VROMI who believed in helping institutions such as the Mental Health Foundation, during my tenure I assisted the former with a parcel of land around the zoo to build their own facility to help our mental patients on the island. At the same time I also assisted them with the drawings for their new facility.
Mr. Editor, I think this is the time for the Mental Health Foundation to start having discussions with the zoo and the Animal Welfare Foundation to do one joint project where they will build a guided living home facility for their mental patients. They can work out an agreement with the zoo and the Animal Welfare Foundation for their patients to do backyard gardening and assist in taking care of the animals.
The Mental Health Foundation should sit down with government to make sure their infrastructure project is part of the recovery fund from Holland. I am sure Dutch Foundations will provide funds for such a project for the mental health patients in St. Maarten.
Government should help them with finding a solution for their property in Cay Hill where they have to pump the septic twice a week which is a very costly affair for the Foundation which doesn't have much funds to begin with. Government can spearhead this underground sewage line project with NV GEBE who should be looking at spearheading the entire sewage project for the island of St. Maarten.
In closing, we need to assist the Mental Health Foundation with building the proper facilities to accommodate their mental health patients which is in dire need of having the proper facilities and service on the island.
The Mental Health Foundation is trying their best with the little funds they have and their hard working and dedicated employees who are also trying their best to take care of our patients under the challenging circumstances.
The Board, Management and staff need our help of building a facility with guided living homes for their patients. The only way the Mental Health Foundation can do it is with the assistance of Government, other Foundations and the private sector working together as one team. That is the only way, we are going to rebuild back St. Maarten for now and the future to come.
Maurice Lake
