Dear Editor,
A few days after Irma passed, my hut was aggressively cleaned out by a powerful friend L., literally cleaned out, everything not on the shelves went outside.
Going carefully through what came out I salvaged shirts, pants, towels, electrical wire and some odds and ends. Only one thing is missing. It is my old hard drive in a special box that lights up when on. It was on a shelf by my laptop table.
It holds hundreds of pictures, stories, movies, music, all from an old ancient HP computer that was falling apart. An IT shop took the hard drive out and put it in the box. I have the power cable and the special, different from all others, USB connecting cable. The cables are on the spot where the box used to be, but the box is gone.
It went missing after the 20 men with bulletproof vests, guns, uniforms and civilian-dressed anti-loot delegation came to visit me. I kid you not.
I was not in the room when it happened. I sat in my car and a young lady friend and a man friend were around. Me in the car with my iron leg, at the gate of the yard, door wide open when the leader of the group started questioning the young lady.
I interrupted the light-skin man with a balding head and glasses without rim, and told him that I was living here, not the other two visiting friends. When asked why they came to see me, the man said he had information to go search the “green house” as my house is painted green. I gave the man immediately permission to go see inside, to find nothing. I am one of the most honest people on the island I told him, and how anybody had recommended to come see me is an enigma.
I think that the leader of the group confiscated my hard drive to find compromising information. That he won’t find because there is none.
How do I go about to ask the man if he has it and how can I get it back? Hundreds of pictures my ex would love to get on a memory stick, hundreds of movies I have not seen downloaded years ago. Playing them when the Internet was down, I miss that box so much that it hurts bad now that it is gone. Years of memories are on it. In case the anti-loot delegation has it, let me know that I bring the charger and connecting USB cables to help you check it out.
If anyone from the anti-loot group reads this, please give me (number known by redaction) or the redaction of this paper a call, I swear I would be forever grateful, and so will my friends who want their pictures.

Chamba Chada

Dear Editor,

  Having experienced two hurricanes cat. 5, having seen the devastation and been around to feel and understand the inconveniences, to just express it mildly; no water, no electricity or no telecommunication for an extended period. Lots of time though to think about what happened and who are suffering, and wondering about the future.

  Returning to what may be considered “normal” is not an option but rather a mediocratic restoration. I have seen buildings that remained almost untouched. I have seen buildings without roofs, windows, or doors where residents sat in front of what once was their beloved home, and their complete damaged furniture and belongings in the yard or on the street in front of them. People not knowing what to d or what may be next. I have seen tremendous piles of sheet metal; pardon my rude English, but I now call it shit metal. 

  Hurricane preparedness, including having bottled water, batteries, getting any loose items out of the way, etc., is a minimal precaution. What about buildings and construction? The Caribbean needs a hurricane building code.     

  It may bring me in the doghouse, but I dare to say that the various individual Caribbean governments are incompetent to establish an appropriate code that focusses on building hurricane-resistant structures. Even if one government would be able to do so, what about the ten-plus other countries that have ten-plus different viewpoints? What about the political umbrella organizations handling it?

  If you ask me, I have my doubts. Did I say doghouse?

  Now, I may be thrown in front of the lions. Being skeptical or critical is one thing, coming up with a positive suggestion is a different thing. Okay then, here we go….

  An independent Caribbean Research and Development Institute for Architecture and Construction should be founded. The Institute should be supported by the insurance and the building Industries. The activities of the institute should be carried out in cooperation with reputable international universities such as, for instance, the Technical University, Delft, Netherlands and Technical University, Zurich, Switzerland. No political involvement; an absolutely independent and impartial organization. 

  Why the insurance industry?  When it comes to big dollars and cents, whose profits suffered the most after the hurricanes? They should have a vested interest in any practical and realistic solution that reduces risks; after all, believe it or not, it is a risk adverse industry.

  Why the building/construction industry? They should be interested in developing materials and methods that resist any challenging situation. Their financial support and investment should pay off well for them in return.

  Why the international universities? That should not need much explanation. They are reputable and insurance, building/construction industries will trust them. Any government or political organization in the region would be foolish to doubt their credibility.

  The institute should independently do its research and development to establish a building code for hurricane strength and resisting construction. I even suggest it to have a wind tunnel available to test structure models in extreme high wind circumstances.

  In addition, the institute should be the preferred independent international organization that can certify whether design, construction or materials are appropriate. Therefore, it will have inspectors and adjusters. Again, no government or political involvement.

  The insurance industry from its side might determine that any new commercial building that is not hurricane-certified can only be insured at higher premiums, get limited coverage, or in the worst case it may not be considered at all for insurance coverage.

  The building suppliers could proudly show the certificate or seal of approval on their products.

  Come to think of it, investors in new projects may also applaud to see a certification.

  The mission of the institute is not to police or regulate, but rather be an undertaking to prevent and protect against hurricane damage of an extraordinary proportion that we have seen recently and which actually may return at any time in the future.

  It is not the aim to take authority away from local governments, although it could become a matter of lead, follow, or get out of the way of the institution. The wisest option for all would be to cooperate with this new credible organization all the way, and establishing and accepting a positive standard for all.

  The institute would inform general audiences about how to protect their dwellings from hurricane impact. It can do so through publication of documentation, presentations in the media or at locally organized meetings.

  As you see, there are many benefits that come out of this solution. 

  But there is more. The lucky island that will be selected as the location of choice may now have landed an institute of higher learning that is internationally accredited, affiliated and respected, which means new employment in the non-academic segments of the institution on location. It may mean conferences to be held on the island and an opportunity to develop unique science tourism.

  For young people in the region, it may be an option to study an alternative academic direction that they don’t have to go abroad for. Because it is Caribbean-related, it may be an opportunity for them to find well-paid employment in the region afterwards or even set up their own specialized business.

  The hurricane damage has proven that it all makes sense. 

  As criticizing as I may have been in the beginning, at least I have provided a positive suggestion. Not telling anyone what to do. I know what I would do. For all others, just consider it to be food for thought. 

Commander Bud Slabbaert

Cmdr. Bud Slabbaert is the initiator and coordinator of the annual Caribbean Aviation Meetup conference. The international results- and solution-oriented event brings airlift stakeholders from both the aviation and tourism industries, as well as government authorities together (www.caribavia.com).  His background is accentuated by Business Development, Strategic Communication, and Journalism.

Dear Editor,

  In my opinion the most important thing for the tourist industry and the economy is to get a good first impression of St. Maarten, as there will be no second first impression.

I believe it is when the cruise ship passengers come off the ships and walk on the walk to Philipsburg when most get their first impression of St. Maarten. So this is very important.

This week’s work, on the walk most tourists take for the first time, was impressive and well done.

Congratulations to St. Maarten for a good start in this so important renovation part.

Paul Ingram

Dear Editor,

  We all had hoped that after the definite breaking up by 10/10/10 of the Netherlands Antilles the continuous bickering and show of discourtesy between our seven Kingdom partners would have stopped. That hope, however was not meant to be, as shown by the two ugliest examples, first when Wiels, the arguably most flamboyant political leader of that period, seriously tarnished his reputation by declaring that some day body bags of some Dutch might be sent to Holland.

  He later became the first-ever Antillean politician killed when one Sunday morning his body was found when he went to a snack bar close to his house. That awful remark still barely beat another low and sensational statement, this time made by a Dutch politician, Bosman, who, in 1914, presented an initiative law to the Dutch parliament which would have discriminated against our Antillean people in favour of Europeans with regard to their right to immigrate to Holland.

  No, that far to a breaking point our Kingdom Bonds have not reached since 10/10/10, although there are still groups on all our islands who still are trying the get the people’s mood closer to full independence for their islands. The most recent, sometimes rather loud, bickering has been mainly limited to solvable situations between Sint Maarten, Bonaire and Statia.

  Still no one expected that right after especially Sint Maarten was hit by arguably the most devastating Hurricane Irma on last September 6, it would give a reason for a new set of bickering, especially not since Irma had caused tremendous loss of homes and personal lives. And most particularly not since a couple of days before its arrival Prime Minister William Marlin informed the public that Dutch Marines and police in Curaçao and Aruba were ready to come give us a helping hand, which indeed they did in the most professional and quiet albeit also very effective way.

  Still, the bickering this time did not start between the local and the Dutch governments, but between our government and its own people who immediately started making intensive use of calling in on Laser not only to be in touch with friends and family but also to – sometimes harshly – criticize the government for its lack of action taken during those first days.

  Then the opening salvo for the bickering between the two countries was made by the Prime Minister himself who in an interview with the NRC unexpectedly blamed the Marines themselves for being the cause of the looting, which statement he denied the next day, saying that he was misquoted, to quickly thereafter apologize for what he indeed had said.

  Still, that was only the beginning for the real, old-fashioned squabbling to start. After the King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander, visited the island and became so emotional after seeing the devastation he apparently helped convince the Dutch government that big help is needed for its small sister island, to which it consented by promising more assistance, including in the form of a super big financial one, but this time with the string attached that it will have to control its spending.

  To that, many Sint Maarten parliamentarians reacted in a meeting last week Monday with what on the island has been taken as a strong message to the Dutch of: “thanks, but as long you don’t think that with your help we’ll permit you to infringe our political and constitutional autonomy.”

  In mentioned first after-Irma parliament meeting we could have heard much criticism on people’s criticism on government’s lack of Irma’s preparedness, actions to be taken about more stringent building regulations, adjustment to the employment permit policy and curtailing the rights of immigrants who had lost their jobs, but not much about plans involving the people directly in those plans, to have them participate more actively and positively from inside their own neighborhoods.

  That made me wonder whether, in case we had well organized neighborhoods on the island such would not have helped to curtail the looting, for example, in my own surroundings, from the foot of the Cole Bay Hill looking over Cay Hill and on the other side ‘til the roundabout by Le Grand Marché , which areas had suffered tremendously from the looting.

  I am convinced that, with government’s permission, it would have been possible to organize a good group of at least 20 very trustworthy persons from various professional backgrounds with whom we may have been able to better protect a good part of that area.

  That, in its turn, reminded me that seven years ago when I was helping the then-commissioner Hyacinth Richardson, who now is a parliamentarian, with his political campaign, I had presented him and the leaders from his own and the two other parties who then formed the coalition government with a plan to structurally rebuild and activate the neighborhoods on Sint Maarten.

  I had already started a few months with the practical exploration of that idea in the Simpson Bay Village and it had started moving pretty well with two of the top priorities of interest being restoring the traditional cozy feeling of the neighborhood and cleaning of the lagoon, also due to my own recollection of boys diving from the bridge and fishermen returning with a bag full of lobsters as their catch of the day.

  The response of the politicians, as passed to me by the then government PR man, my good friend David Christian: “Elco, I love your plan but am afraid that I’m the only one who has read it. To tell you the truth I don’t feel their interest in doing anything with it; they will probably say they already have a plan.”

  David was right. The only government person I afterwards heard from was Hyacinth’s chief of staff who repeated what David had said: “Elco we already have our own plan … but still thanks.” After that the politicians took over and quickly destroyed our plan by re- splitting the participants along party lines.

  The Government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams, indeed then started its plan for “social development” which was based on the United Nations INDP program that was aimed at combatting poverty and the promotion of democracy. It was heavily staffed by civil servants and also heavily relied on the non-governmental organizations, the NGOs.

  With other friends, local activists, I was present at the meeting where the program was launched but was laughed at when I expressed my opinion that we should first try to bring the program more in tune with the specific conditions of Sint Maarten’s own social- cultural fabric. The staff’s reaction: “The INDP program has already proven its value in other Caribbean countries.” It ultimately fizzled out and despite the latest intentions to renew it there does not seem much enthusiasm for it, not even from the NGOs.

  My biggest disappointment from the said parliament meeting therefor is that although a lot was correctly said about the need for building houses for those who had lost theirs, I have not noted words being dedicated to the importance of this time doing that more comprehensively, especially now that the Dutch government has committed to its assistance thereto, while correcting the serious mistakes which up to this day have obstructed it from not only becoming a great total success but possibly also a trigger for the broader issue of rebuilding the communities of Sint Maarten and remaking it a healthy nation.

  What about comprehensive social build-up of the island as sole topic for the next parliament meeting?

Elco Rosario