Dear Editor,
Even though the job I did for years started with the letters poli, I did not take information gathered on the job (people’s ideas) and run with them. I am starting my letter to you this way because I will not take the praise for the content of this letter. This suggestion came from a conscientious young person who is also fed up with the way our utility companies are being managed. Let me add this: I am not writing a letter for someone else. We had a discussion which that person initiated. I agreed wholeheartedly with what he said and thought it worthwhile to write to you about it, but I will not take the credit due to him. Because I am the one who signed this letter I am ready to absorb whatever reasonable reaction it brings.
I believe that by now almost everybody is aware of the telecommunication outage, which TelEm is trying to sweep under the rug by offering a lame apology to its clients, and expects the clients to continue to roll over and play dead. I will refer to this later in the letter. This young man came to me and said to me, “Mister Russell, I can remember sitting right here and discussing, incircleing the Central Bank, the Post Office and the police station together and putting them in one big yard.” At that time we were also deliberating what would be the pros and cons with such a decision. Parking was discussed, and we were of the opinion that because in time the whole Nisbeth Road would have businesses the solution would be to shift the Nisbeth Road a little further in the pond and make parking available all along the Nisbeth Road on the side of the pond.
I told him that that was a good while ago. Yes, and it is because of that idea I said to myself every day it’s something else with the current and now TelEm is blaming GEBE for their problem. (Which reminds me of how my brothers and I would alternate taking the blame so that all of us would not be punished at the same time.)
Because of the constant excuses given by GEBE for its outages, I was thinking that this government could save a ton of money spent on fuel if they would pool the TelEm building, the new Administrative building, the Post Office (former receivers), the St. Maarten University and the police station together. Get whatever size batteries and solar panels are needed and install a solar system that would service all of those buildings and possibly the Carnival Village also and even the Little League Ballpark. And this is why I refer to him as being a conscientious young person. He also added, “They will have to look for some other excuse for those continuous power outages.”
By the way, I would like for the TelEm manager to know that he lied black on white because he could have foreseen that the outages could not be restored before the weekend, but apologized letting the clients know that TelEm was doing everything possible to restore service to its clients. Which was not true because from Wednesday to Friday would be ample time to calculate what would the cause of the outage. Along with that, TelEm knows that 611 for a while is not operational. Somewhere in my mind there was this thought: I wonder if this is a test run to see how things will be after all of those dismissals?
Because even though 611 was not operational and the outlets where clients could pay without going to the main building were also not functioning, still no effort was made on Saturday to restore that which was not functioning. TelEm was closed down over the weekend. People were asked to use their phone to “reset their box”. But if the Internet is not functioning neither are the phones. That is why I dare write that the management of TelEm did not and possibly still not care about the clients.
It is irresponsible and possibly considered criminal, taking the results of certain actions in account. Would I be going too far if I decided that the management of TelEm was completely unconcerned of the consequences of its actions? I believe it was total disregard of its customers, especially in a situation where the customer is totally dependent on the proprietor. Along with that, everybody is promised 24-hour continual service. I did not have the use of any kind of communication from Wednesday until Tuesday at about 10:30am.
I sincerely hope that, our people, old and new, in government will be just as diligent as they are to plan Parlatino trips, which up to now the people have not profited from (I have not seen any improvement) will also be as eager to look for a solution to these continuous utility outages.
At the risk of sounding petty, “Take that Parlatino money and get us solar energy”.
Russell A. Simmons
Dear Editor,
Well, well, if the parliamentarians are taking too long to form the governing government 2024 to 2028, the question has been asked: If the four caretaker ministers that have been elected to be parliamentarians for 2024 to 2028 remain as caretaker ministers, will they be collecting two salaries – as caretaker ministers and still being a member of Parliament?
We and many people have seen our parliamentarians, ministers and St. Maarten justice system need better performance.
There are many laws to be amended and new laws are needed to be in place for the betterment of the people here.
Dollarisation is the best way for St. Maarten to accept.
Please, St. Maarten, don’t accept the Caribbean guilders with Curaçao, tell Curaçao to keep their new currency for themselves.
It’s time St. Maarten parliamentarians and ministers wake up from their slumber and strongly demand that St. Maarten has its own central bank.
Cuthbert Bannis
Dear Editor,
The world we live in is becoming more and more anti-social as time passes and it will continue to increase. What is the cause of this, you might ask, and my simple answer is the fast advancement of technology.
I wish I knew about the presentation of Ms. Julia Davich (forgive me if the spelling is wrong) that she gave at the University of St. Maarten. I heard part of her presentation this week on the radio and I think one the things she mentioned was the matter of paying online and what this does to the physical interaction of people with each other. She mentioned seniors as one of the examples. They are people who spend most of their time at home and this definitely can affect their mental state especially if they live alone or their relatives hardly visit them.
I am one that never pays my bills online. Two main reasons for this are, the Internet connection is not reliable and, second, I meet persons who I have not seen sometimes in years and get an opportunity to interact with them. Physical interaction is of utmost importance.
Another important factor I believe she mentioned had to do with service/communication. When you go online you get an automatic/electronic response not from an individual but from, let me say it this way, from a machine. The person to whom you send the response, request or inquiry knows who you are but you don’t know who you can hold responsible in such cases. There are some instances, however, when you do get a response or know who the individual or individuals are.
I am quite aware that one cannot stop the advancement of technology but what we can do is give a more humane approach to the people who need assistance, especially the seniors. Every institution, be it government, financial institutions such as banks, those that provide services must make the experience of seniors as pleasant as possible. There are too many complaints from seniors about how they are being treated. Remember if you live long enough you too one day will become a senior, how would you want to be treated? See everyone but especially every senior as a potential you.
This is just a drop in the bucket on what I want to say but will leave it here for now. No matter what we think, we are all social beings.
George Pantophlet
Dear Editor,
How healthy are you, Simpson Bay? Over the past 2 years you have been slowly looking a little cloudy, dingy, and have lost your crystal clear appeal.
The small and large fish that once delighted your fringes are no longer apparent, your reefs are diminished.
You are a true gem on this special little island paradise. Many thousands travel from every corner of the globe to see you, world famous, one would say. So, who is looking out for your good health? Which governmental island agency is responsible for managing and protecting your wellness while providing transparency?
On March 1st, during the Heineken Sailing Regatta, I was on the Simpson Bay Resort and Marina property and observed an approximately 5-inch pipe dumping at a high velocity, 'unwanted liquids' into Simpson Bay for at least 4 hours. Who knows how long this actually continued and how often it occurs? NO ONE should be pumping their 'no longer wanted' liquids overboard into Simpson Bay or the Lagoon. Violators should be reprimanded and fined.
Approximately 6 weeks ago, a storm washed a sailboat ashore on Simpson Bay Beach. She still remains there complete with fuel and oil and other environmental hazards. Who will remove this boat along with her pollutants, and when?
There are many who enjoy the bay and lagoon, local islanders, tourists, kids, mega yachts, work boats, sailboats, pleasure craft, ferry boats, dinghies, jet skis, cargo boats, divers, snorkellers, kite surfers and dogs. And on occasion, horses that do not wear poop bags.
These are just a few of the combinations that can contribute to the contaminants that affect the decline of water quality, reef preservation and aquatic wellness and vibrancy of Simpson Bay.
This is a serious matter and the ramifications are beginning to show. Simpson Bay is losing her sparkle and good health. Who will help her?
Hopefully, this letter will challenge the caring public and the government to initiate a true change and provide substantial and creative awareness and urgent solutions to preserve a natural treasure, an economic generator and tourist attraction.
To save the fate of the once stunning, glorious aqualine waters of Simpson Bay and her beach, who is going to implement 'the wellness plan' and save her from an unnecessary necroscopy?
SH
Initials used at author’s request.
Open letter to Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport VWS, attn: Herbert Bernard and Abigail Norville
Dear Mr. Bernard and Ms. Norville,
On behalf of the employees of the St. Eustatius Health Care Foundation (SEHCF) All for 1 Union (AF1) is kindly requesting an urgent investigation regarding the issues mentioned in the subject line of this letter which states the ongoing concerns at SEHCF.
Noncompliance with CLA
June 27, 2023, AF1 sent a letter to SEHCF requesting that the concerns mentioned would be handled urgently. SEHCF responded on July 17, 2023, that the points of concern would be taken care of. Sadly, SEHCF admitted in another response letter of January 18, 2024, reference FR/2024/01/01, that “uniforms should have been ordered earlier in accordance with the CLA” while considering that this noncompliance dates back to 2019. AF1 interprets this statement as acknowledgement of sustained neglect of task.
Another specific issue concerning noncompliance, is the payment of “cessantia” to employees who transferred from Queen Beatrix Medical Center to SEHCF when the reorganization took place. Up to Tuesday, March 12, 2024, the employees have not been paid.
Misuse of authority/Victimization
The employees of the SEHCF/AF1 decided in late January 2024 that industrial actions were the last option and started wearing black T-shirts. Since then, the interim director has decided to subject a group of employees to a biased one-man evaluation exercise and promised to hand over his findings to his successor. Employees that have made use of their rights to demonstrate against the issues at SEHCF are being denied opportunities to fill vacant positions. This contains a serious breach of their civil and employment rights and is a clear example of victimization.
Nepotism
The husband of a management team member has been employed at the SEHCF for some months now in a position for which SEHCF never posted a vacancy.
Conflict of interest
For the last couple of years, SEHCF has been making use of the services of a consultancy firm to manage the HRM [humn resources management – Ed.]. The representative of this consultancy firm is also the secretary of the SEHCF board of directors, the same person who is facilitating the CLA reform and negotiations. This construction makes it difficult if not outright impossible to reach non-biased agreements during and after negotiations. Additionally, AF1 members are being bombarded with petty insignificant concerns (nit-picking) by this person in the position at HRM.
AF1 is willing to provide written evidence and witnesses corroborating these issues to reach a resolution in an immediate yet non-discriminatory manner. Thank you for your attention to these issues. We look forward to your swift response and we strive to work together to resolve these issues promptly.
All for 1 Union (AF1)
