Dear Editor,
The Democratic Party would like to extend a warm welcome home to those who spent the summer abroad, and extends best wishes to all students, teachers, and staff of learning institutions island-wide, and surely to parents too, for the new academic year.
We believe that parents play an important, perhaps the most important role in this equation. We do so with genuine appreciation and respect for all that parents must sacrifice and do to ensure their children’s success, sometimes working two, even three jobs to pay school fees, books, uniforms and more; not to mention after-school care and activity cost, which increase if the child engages in some sport or form of art (sports gear, musical instruments, etc.).
Of the expressions of God’s steadfast and abiding love here on earth, that of a parent is surely one of them. From it we learn that sacrifices and investments made for all those who come behind us is the very definition of civilization.
Good teachers confess to faithfully picking up where the parents leave off, child after child, day after day. Yet in conversations held in confidence, we hear them say they work even better with students whose parents take the time to give them individual and personal assistance. Why? They say they know for sure that those students will always have an extra push and those parents keep a keen eye on their child’s progress or their challenges.
Even 30 minutes of uninterrupted one-on-one time spent by parents with their youth on homework or any other activity, not only strengthens the bond, but is critical to their development, and an ‘unspoken’ agreement in "co-labour" that the youth will uphold.
It may be that they resist at first, believing you will not continue, or they prefer to command their own space. Persevere! That sacrifice of time in full and undivided attention (no phone calls, work, TV, newspapers or interruptions allowed) is vitally important for them, because it ‘says’ they are more important than anything else you could, would, or ‘should’ be doing – even for their benefit. Without this kind of attention, few youth, even good students are motivated to reach their full potential.
The message is that those 30 minutes ‘say’ more and have greater impact than a stream of lectures directed at them. Our complete time and attention with them feed a need of intimacy and nurturing that do not disappear after infancy. It demonstrates ‘love’ in a primal way that cannot be conveyed simply by what we do ‘for’ them.
So what is an ultra-busy parent to do? Begin considering all you have done and will continue to do and prioritize this one more: make, find or rewind 30 minutes at least four times a week and spend it with your child or children. At the end of the day, just as consistent attention to one’s homework in academics is the only way to get the best outcome and results, so it is in parenting as well. With this resolve by our parents, not only will students excel, but teachers will be able to "run with the ball" and students will follow.
Best wishes to all for a safe, successful and productive school year.

Board and Leadership of the Democratic Party

Dear Editor,
If we listen to members of government tell it, we may be just a trifle below Utopia. By their data everything is tipsy turvy, and no stone is left unturned to protect our country and defend our people. In short, giving meaning to the campaign slogans of “People before self and promise made promise kept”.
But just as in previous governments, we are hard pressed to believe, for it doesn’t show in the employment market, or the food basket or our ability to pay school fees, meet our obligations to GEBE and other household necessities. Let me be perfectly clear, it is beyond any doubt quite a feat to put all these high councils in place in six years, it is awe- inspiring to balance the budget and rid our people of the Nancy stories of the Dutch and the CFT with their instructions and threats of higher supervision.
But what are we supposed to think when we hear that our government has recently approved hundreds of residents and work permits for foreigners, while our young people cry out for gainful employ?
How are we to accept that these jobs are mostly in sales persons, hotel help and car rental agents when we are told we don’t qualify? How are we to reconcile the fact that out of every ten people in stores on Front Street and Back Street, all are non-national and eight are directors?
If our education system is not producing what the business community needs, maybe we should be better informed on these requirements and adjust our curriculum to suit. Even then, there will remain a degree of doubt as we are told we can’t tell the school boards, which are subsidized by the tax payer, how to set the curriculum. We have in this country requirements for directors of our NVs and in government sector; maybe we can be informed on the needs of directors in jewel stores, Tee-shirt shops and electronic equipment outlets.
I know you see where I am going, the same urgency and maximum input you attach to the implementation of the asset confiscation team can be put into the eradication of the abuse of short-term contracts. We can also ask the overzealous prosecutor’s office to apply the law on businesses that employ illegals and try to circumvent the law on taxes and social security, I am sure the treasury can use an extra NAf.100.000.
It would be nice if our INS can check on the many Venezuelans, who have refugee or other humanitarian status on the northern half of the island now taken on most of the jobs in the hotels in the MAHO area.
Our government has been very busy with a myriad of issues, but none that directly affect the life and livelihood of the small man, what a friend of mine referred to as the bread-and-butter issues. We are also still concerned about the Pearl of China projects and the guaranty of jobs to our people, and we are hoping that we will know before they start up to avoid hearing we don’t have what they need or that our education system is inadequate.
We may be able to pre-empt that by finding out now what vacancies are available to us or what percentage of the project we will be able to fill.
Ladies and gentlemen of honour, the messages coming out of your weekly press briefings are at the very least misleading. When you declare we are giving too many work permits to outsiders for jobs locals can fill and then issue a new batch of permits is very misleading.
When you omit to finalize laws promised since 10-10-10, and expedite others that don’t directly address the cries of our people, that is also misleading. And when you proudly announce the education budget, including your pride in the successful candidates who leave to further their studies, but fill all positions in the public sector with outsiders, while giving the private sector more permits to import foreign labour, it is at the very least, downright confusing.

Elton Jones

Dear Editor,
The world presently is in a deception mode. What I am about to say is not intended to offend anybody. But it can, depending on your life style or your values in life. My purpose for this article is for people to think well based on facts before they make a decision.
Deception is the act of hiding the truth to get an advantage to control and use people.
I will not waste time anymore if any one rebut against this article, I let the words and facts defend itself. What is truth? Truth defined in the dictionary is that which is true in accordance with fact or reality.
John 14:6 Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. Many people believe in God; the big question is which God they believe in. Believing in God is one thing, but trust and obedience is another matter. In relationships, be it business, friendship, marriage or organization, they are all built on trust and obedience to the rules that are established. When disobeying a rule in any relationship trust is broken and the relationship becomes in jeopardy and causes great challenges which can or will lead to destruction.
Obedience to God proves our love for Him; it demonstrates our faithfulness to Him, and glorifies Him in the world, and opens avenues of blessing for us. Obedience proves love and fulfils trust which leads to a good decision. In order words, true love is proving faithfulness when nobody is around to see you while you are doing what is right and truthful to the commitment you made. Your commitment being made or kept is what you choose to do.
Choices have consequences.
My point is, if you love God prove it by obedience and trust, in fact, God commands us to do that. It is our choice not to do it, but it is never a right to do what is wrong. God will be a fool to give you a right to do something wrong, and then hold you guilty. The people who preach that are deceiving you. Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This means you have to neglect your feelings and your desires and live to please Jesus Christ.
The truth is, I am still struggling with it, but I continue to pursue to do what is right or to please to him. But being disobedient is to intentionally live to please to yourself. This means to live a lifestyle of telling lies, killing, stealing, fornicating and committing adultery, or so-called living, or marrying your same-sex partner and without concern for what God commands. All these things are disobedience and distrust in God which makes destructive decisions.
Many of us use our accomplishments as a manner to comfortably live in sin. We use our money and business and our nice cars and houses to seduce others to commit acts displeasing to God, and we call that happiness. We brag and boast about our sinful deeds; when this lifestyle becomes the norm, the Spirit of the Lord leaves you, and you are already lost without knowing it.
If you truly love God and choose Him as your Lord and Saviour, then your choice must be to obey and trust Him. In closing, I leave you with this, choose wisely! God never tolerates sin; He curses and punishes sin.
Psalm 101:3-8 (NIV) I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it. The perverse of heart shall be far from Me; I will have nothing to do with what is evil. Whoever slanders their neighbour in secret, I will put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate. My eyes will be on the faithful in the land that they may dwell with Me; the one whose walk is blameless will minister to Me.
No one who practices deceit will dwell in My house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence. Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land; I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the Lord.
My friends, it is crystal clear now, obedience and trust make good decisions.

The Patriot Miguel Arrindell

Dear Editor,
The United People’s Coalition (UPC) acknowledges that in a constitutional democracy there are a set of rules, with counterbalancing influences in place to keep those in charge honest, in the widest sense of the word. In dealing with a government as such, those rules fall under checks and balances on the judicial-, legislative- and executive branches.
The checks and balances that Statia’s government must adhere to are anchored in the WolBES and the FinBES. More specifically, these are, among others, in the hands of the island council, the governor, the Kingdom Representative (KR), the Council of financial supervision (CFT), and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Kingdom Relations (BZK). Of course, the people also have a say when they evaluate the individual politicians and validate their level of production in the vote they cast every four years. What should be clear is the fact that these checks and balances are only meaningful and effective with enforcement of sanctions in case of failures.
In Statia’s case, we have seen the following infractions and failures in the last eighteen months: failure of not having a 2017 budget, no submission of adequate quarterly financial reports, no financial year reports 2015 and 2016, appointments of personnel, an island secretary and Island financial controller and an Interim Director, all paid out of the government’s coffer without the approval of the Kingdom Representative.
Because no decisive actions were taken by the governor, the Kingdom Representative, the CFT nor the Ministry, the ruling coalition stretched the envelope by taking their illegal behaviour a step further by adopting a motion in the island council where they declared the WolBES and the FinBES invalid, indicating to The Hague they will not adhere to these laws enacted to govern our lives and liberty.
This last action of the ruling coalition is indicative of a wider power grab by this coalition by creating a vacuum in which they have 'carte blanche' to do as they feel under the disguise of several UN treaties, hence fulfilling the many campaign promises, such as appointments of unqualified cronies, threatening of the civil corps, signing agreements without the signature of the governor, travelling at will, and using the funds out of the people’s coffer as if they have impunity.
So, is it then fair to state that because of the inept attitude and failure of enforcing the check and balances in the interest of our people against the ruling coalition by above-mentioned ministry (BZK), they facilitated and also encouraged the ruling coalition to perpetuate this lawless governing?
As a result of this lackadaisical attitude of BZK, UPC must conclude that to continue blaming this present coalition alone is useless. Governing like this is the new normal for them, because sadly, it is condoned by the entities in charge. So, the suffering of our people under this administration falls squarely not only on the shoulders of this coalition, but moreover also on that of Minister Plasterk of Ministry of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations, for dropping the ball.

Reginald C. Zaandam
Leader of the United People's Coalition