Dear Editor,
Please allow me some space in your newspaper to address the people.
Fellow citizens, neighbours and friends it is high time we pay some serious attention to hurricane Irma that is threatening our area. Most of us like to believe that we have time to put everything in place before the onslaught. Experience has shown how wrong that can turn out to be.
The preparation for these types of meteorological phenomena is and will remain a yearly ritual, as we are in the hurricane belt and will continue to be so. We can no longer rely on the afterthought of what we could or should have done; the time to act is now.
This hurricane [yesterday – Ed.], Sunday, September 3 is fluctuating between three and four on the [Saffir-Simpson – Ed.] scale which makes it a huge, dangerous and life-threatening storm. In the past few hours it has shifted somewhat southward bringing it almost directly over neighbouring Anguilla.
With reports of hurricane force winds extending fifteen miles from the centre and gale-force winds up to sixty miles out, we will experience serious weather affecting lives, businesses and the economy which is now struggling to rebound at about point five per cent.
If we are convinced we have nothing to do and a lot of time to do it in, please use this time to batten down the hatches. Good sense tells us that waiting for the last minute is foolhardy. Our country needs all of your contributions so it behoves us all if you can remain clear of harm’s way.
To all our NVs: a day or two of no activity is better than months of getting back to normal. Don’t be afraid to err on the side of caution and shut it down, we will deal with that later. There is nothing to see outside in a storm if you are not a first-responder or emergency personnel; keep the streets clear for you would only add to the problem.
Listen to your radio and follow and obey the instructions given by the authorities. Your safety and the protection of life and property is their main concern and they are experienced in dealing with hurricanes, counting the number we had since 1995. Fellow St. Maarteners, be safe and I hope we meet again after the storm. It is truly a lot better to be safe than sorry. Good luck and blessings to us all.

Elton Jones

Dear Editor,
Please allow me to respond to that article entitled “On Parity” in the following manner. I must admire the energy and effort of the writer, but would ask him to be more careful when challenging the Democratic Party of Statia. We do our research and present the facts to the people of Statia in accordance with our code of ethics. We have no desire to scare or frighten our citizens, but we do believe that all is better served with truthful and factual information.
In his letter of the 8th of June 2015, Minister Plasterk informed the second chamber of the Netherlands about the tax and premium income and total Federal Expenses of the Caribbean Netherlands, divided over Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba for the year 2014.
Of the €110 million collected in the BES Islands, €13 million or 11, 8 % was collected on Statia. A whopping 80% of that income was collected on Bonaire. Of the €287 million in total BES expenditures, €54 million was attributed to Statia. €13/€54=24%; this means that the Dutch Government is covering 76% of our expenses, or three times the taxes and premiums generated on Statia. Until other information is available this is the information we will continue to refer to.
I also noticed Glen that you omitted to mention the €42 million that the Dutch Government pays into the BES Fund, which is paid out as free allowance, bringing the total expenditures for 2016 to €340 million, instead of the €298 you quoted in your article. You need to get your information straight, recalculate your parity and explain how income generated by Bonaire will finance an autonomous Statia.
We are all for more autonomy and support all actions that lead to a more self-sufficient and sustainable Statia. Being able to carry your own load is the real key to more autonomy. Our focus therefor should be to build our economy and improve the wellbeing of our people. We in no way can support a coalition government that has divorced itself from the very essential funding available to Statia to help us on our way.
While Statia is content to argue and fight the Dutch every step of the way, Bonaire and Saba are grabbing what they can. I never thought in all my years we would be arguing over the size, and fighting for a bill the Dutch Government is content to pay on behalf of the people of Statia.
What is interesting to know is what sacrifices Glen and the coalition government are asking the people of Statia to make? Will the universal health care remain intact? What will be the amount of old age pension and social benefits? Will our teachers and civil servants continue to receive their yearly periodic increases and cost-of-living adjustments? What about the regular CLA adjustments? Will education continue to be free?
My advice to you Glen is to stay far from the issue of integrity, leave that for someone else. Correct your numbers and recalculate your parity and focus on Statia, not the three Islands together. Bonaire’s revenues belong to Bonaire. Come out of the clouds; there’s no autonomy without responsibility.

Ernie Simmons
Advisor to the Democratic Party of Statia

Dear Editor,

  The first day my mother saw me dressed in uniform getting ready to go to work,

 she gave me God's blessing and told me that I must always remember that anytime, anything happen to anybody anywhere, some mother's belly hurt. She said be fair to the people and treat them right.

  My Father was the philosopher, so coming from my mother that registered with me until today. All kinds of examples were given to us in the academy, but that one hit home.  When I got home in the afternoon after work, and asked her about what she had told me in the morning, she explained that when positive things happen, especially with police people, it is noticed, but soon forgotten. On the contrary, when something negative happens people will always remember that and continue to comment about it.

  It is expected for people involved in policing to do the right thing, so doing the right thing would be considered normal.  A whole lot of other people do negative things but that will go unnoticed. Whereas once people in policing mess up, it becomes the biggest offense.

  I read the results of the court case against the ex-head of VDSM and got the impression as if he was the biggest murderer that Sint Maarten has ever known. The person who supplied them with a lot of vital information. One would think that he had embezzled millions of dollars.  If memory serves me well, the amount involved in reality is about seventy-five percent less than he was accused of embezzling, and that those who were supposed to know did the Pilate thing.  With the little experience that I have in life and the forty one years in law enforcement.

  I know that there are certain standards of procedures, and, security of self, is one. I also know that a sense of integrity is another. I do not know anything about the case other than following it in the papers.  But from the onset I knew that security to those involved was laid aside for politics.  I cannot remember any such an office being exposed to the public.

  When I saw the ribbon cutting in the papers, I informed about it, and I was told that is how they wanted it. That already to me was a no-no.  Having an idea how finances for that department is handled, and in this case with no one to secure checks and balances, I told myself the stick is right there to beat that dog.  By now we all know that fear and threat took place in prompting the ex-head of VDSM to take those decisions.  Is that really fair?

  But I must mention this.  People in policing and government have always been at logger heads, and up to today there are still problems with salaries and promotions.  I am still not sure of the real reason for going at the ex-head of VDSM.  Was he railroaded? What would Donald Trump do in a case like this?

  I do not think it is far-fetched to think in this manner, because my pension money is being used to bail out bad spenders of government money. The harbour deal, the new government building deal, and we are talking millions. Dubious deals of which we have not heard of anyone being arrested.

  Not to talk about the causeway. The Causeway cost us an amount of which I as a taxpayer, a citizen and a voter am still waiting to see the figures, and we are not seeing any kind of returns from that investment. The casino's owed plenty and we only hear an amount of thirteen million. The ex-head of VDSM so-called unaccounted for amount was made to be almost seventy-five percent more than the real amount. And you know what, one mother said “I have to do this", and the other mother’s belly hurt.

Russell A. Simmons

Dear Editor,
I must applaud the Minister of Finance Richard Gibson and his cabinet for making it possible to have consecutive balanced budgets for three years, no small feat and also presenting it on time to Governor Eugene Holiday. This is really no small feat.
One should not underestimate the heated debates that possibly took place during the discussions on where and how much to cut. Every ministry has its priorities and probably some more than others, but in the final analysis a compromise had to be reached as time was of essence. If government continues on this trend, which also should include surpluses then it means more funds available for government to meet its vital responsibilities.
We are all aware of the issues with the Police Force relating to the function book, payment arrears and so on; the much-needed repairs to schools and much more. What must be remembered is that with five years consecutive balanced budgets there is a possibility that the Committee for Financial Supervision will no longer be needed. Some might want it to be in place while others, like myself, would prefer that not to be the case for the simple fact that they determine whether the budget is feasible or realistic.
While Parliament and Government have the responsibility of providing seriously needed social welfare to those who are in dire need of such. In his opinion, the CFT looks at figures and he looks at people. I believe the way forward is to have a department set up separately to look at the financial management of each ministry. This was started in the past but for some reason it was halted. What must be ensured is that there is waste management and he is not talking about the sanitary landfill. It is a discipline that all of us need to practice.
Finally, the mention again by the Minister of the 40-million-guilder upgrade a long awaited process for a long neglected Inspectorate of Taxes is of utmost importance. We are in the 21st century and modern technology is available. It should not be that almost for some 25 years now one still has to wait two years or more to collect his/ her tax refund. The United States of America pay their tax refunds in April of the following year. Case in point on April 2017, taxes for 2016 were paid.
Again congratulations to the ones involved in having this draft budget ready on time. No small feat.

George Pantophlet
Member of Parliament