Dear Editor,

I am writing this article because many of our young men are being carried away in shackles to the prison cells in Pointe Blanche. Our prison cells nowadays have become a home not for the old, but for many of our young men who have fallen into crime. I am writing this article because many of our youths are brought up in homes where there is violence, abuse, and lack of a father as a good role model. I am writing this article, because there is a growing number of single mothers out there who have to fulfil the role of not only mother, but also father because of absent fathers in the homes.

Raising a child in the proper manner does not begin in the schools, the church or in the neighbourhood. Yes they all can contribute, but primarily it begins in the homes where there should be a good caring mother and a dedicated and responsible father.

I can recall some time ago while riding on a bus there were two young school girls among the passengers having a live conversation about the social situation in their homes. These girls were about 13 and 14 years of age, yet they were not ashamed of openly discussing the kind of affairs their single mothers were having with other men. I recall the older looking girl saying: “The man who does be with my mother don’t like step children.”

Now dear Editor, I believe in her situation, according to her complaint, that this gentleman as a possible step father is only interested in the mother. So having a child, or children around is a problem. Matter of fact they are not his own anyway so he probably feels that he doesn’t have to give a damn. He is only there to help keep mom “warm.” Then the younger looking girl responded: “I know my mother does have a man come sleep with her.”

Dear Editor, this situation presented here is just an example of many other children who are growing up in homes today where the father is absent, where children are raised by their grandmothers or where mothers too are showing or giving a bad example to their children. How can these children experience that faithfulness and through love of a marriage relationship between a mother and a father if both parents are failing to set the right example? Homes with absent fathers as well as divorce, separation, fathers who abuse their wives or children, can affect a child psychologically. Boys, particularly, are in need of their fathers in the homes to spend time with them and teach them how to grow up from boys to men.

In the neighbourhood where I live there are two young brothers who sells drugs. These boys grew up without a father. One of the brothers, who is the leader of a gang, surprisingly confessed to one of my neighbours, who made an effort to council him after being arrested on numerous occasions for possession of arms and drugs that he would like to change and start going clean. This kind of confession would indeed bring great relief, not only to his concerned and troubled single mother, but I believe also for the judge who probably must be tired of seeing this young man being ushered in and out of the court house for repeated criminal offences, enough to fill a book.

This young man may be like many others who may want to get free, but have to battle the demons of drug addiction and rebellious life style, that has wrecked not only his youth full life, but also the lives of many others who have fallen or being misled into this path of psychological destruction. He may even be an example for many others to follow, but there is a problem. Some of these young drug-pimps are in too deep; they know too much and they have connections with bigger undercover dealers who are depending on them to sell their “merchandise” So they know they are being watched.

There was a time I use to shun these neighbourhood boys as well as others because I considered them miserable bad boys, who no respectable person should have anything to do with not realizing that the reason why many of these young men turned out the way they are is because they grew up in troubled homes without proper guidance and loving care.

Putting aside my personal pride and arrogance to communicate with them I realized that they too have their inner struggles and are willing to listen or take advice. At times, we as adults or fathers should help mentor the fatherless. The problem we are facing is that many of the absent fathers themselves grew up in homes without a father so in the end the cycle of the family degeneration will continue.

This Father’s Day just look around and see, we have lost many of our young men already. Tomorrow, June the 18 is celebrated as Father’s Day, so have a wonderful day dear fathers with your families. Happy Father’s Day to all dads.  

Name withheld at author's request.

Dear Editor,

When an organization has acquired a reputation for operating in a deficit mode, is it wise to compose a delegation that comprises the “principal” members of that organization? Is it not that such a decision would create an imbalance of work ethics and a blurred sense of direction for that entity?

These views reflect the lobby group that is currently attending the IPKO meetings in the Netherlands. From observation, it seems rather irresponsible that Chairlady Wescot-Williams would travel to Holland with the sole colleague from her party, along with the first and second vice chair of Parliament. When all of the above mentioned MPs are in Holland simultaneously, then who is in charge of Parliament in their absence? In the same breath, should there be an emergency that is linked directly to Parliament, what happens then?

This inequality has been practiced throughout the existence of Parliament, but it does not reflect the proper governing of such an important body. Gone are the days when Parliamentarians are selected as a tag along; intellectuals have become the demand in today’s world. With this vivid picture, it is always mind-boggling to see the MP, who told Holland to shut up, that consistently craved to be a part of a delegation that sits with the same country that he despises. Then what is his true motive in this educational process?

MPs who contribute nothing to the advancement of Parliament should not be allowed to participate in these vital discussions. In fact, why would the same individuals consistently demand to be in charge of certain committees when these very local commissions have remained dormant for years? It is time that the Chairlady of Parliament restructures the manner in which MPs are selected to these committees and insert a more stringent method of how they are managed.

This would avoid retaining the same persons to be in charge of committees, just to enjoy the glamour of travelling and having a title attached to their names.

While in this vein of deficiency, often times one can hear members of Parliament complaining about the lack of legal representation of the organization. If this is the case, then what purpose does their legal advisor serve? Likewise, why do Parliamentarians who arrive late, choose to walk directly in front of the cameras? Why can’t they enhance the production of the broadcast by using the lanes to sign in and to sit or exit their seats?

The population is at the stage where the consciousness of the people has been heightened more than ever. Therefore, this community will no longer accept the notion of Parliamentarians attending vital meetings within the Kingdom and then return as if they were on a vacation.

The people want to know the intricacies of the discussions. Details like: How does this dialogue regarding education and youth affairs fit into the situation of St. Maarten? How does Parliament intend to integrate the information and when? This means that there must be a discussion in Parliament – one that will give us full understanding of the value of the IPKO meetings and the seriousness of our Parliamentarians engaging is such dialogues.

This responsibility now lies in the hands of Chairlady Wescot-Williams, who must exercise her expertise in bringing about meaningful change that would stem the entity from this consistent mode of running on autopilot.

Joslyn Morton

Dear Editor,

One of the most prominent institutions on the 6 islands of the previous Netherlands Antilles is the Chamber of Commerce & Industry which they have inherited in 1945 from our European mother country the Netherlands. Nowadays the three bigger islands have a Chamber of their own while the smaller three have one for them together.

Said Chambers, through their Trade Registers, aide in providing a secure environment for business undertakings on our sister islands. Indeed, by constantly upgrading their organizations to provide the best possible service, the Chambers’ Trade Registers are nowadays also used to register other legal entities like associations and foundations.

Regretfully, however, our now respective Chambers have also inherited from the Dutch a phenomenon in the functioning of their legal organizational structure, which, like a snake in the grass, suddenly can arise its neck and with a single bite cause tremendous damage.

Said phenomenon is the relative “passivity” of the Chamber regarding controlling the correctness of the information, particularly at its issuance of so called “extracts” in regard to the state of affairs of legal entities, for example, regarding the persons who are legally authorized to represent an entity which is registered at the Chamber.

Said extract has become indispensable for verifying the proper performance of legal acts on behalf of legal entities: the government requires them when a company applies for an employment permit for an employee, the bank asks for one when granting a loan to a foundation, the notary wants to see it when preparing a deed of sale and purchase to which a legal entity is a party and the court wants to verify it to ascertain that the person representing, for example, a company at the court indeed is authorized to do that.

Everybody accepts that an extract issued by the Chamber is correct, which is very understandable because of the good name of our Chambers and also because everybody expects that the Chamber has done the proper research into all the documents in its files before it issues such an extract, which latter, however, (even) by law (being the Regulations governing the functioning of our Chambers), because of the mentioned concerning passivity of the Chamber, is not necessarily the case.

The extreme confusion such can cause is illustrated by a case which, (although it has not yet gone to Court) has been affecting great interests of many residents on St. Maarten.

Representatives of two associations claiming to represent certain residents of government housing projects have been addressing the government, the foundation representing the government in this matter, the Chamber and the media in regard to vital decisions which have been pending to be taken on behalf of the concerned residents.

The first and older association has been dormant for the last 4-5 years and consequently has not held any membership meeting in which board members, according to its Articles of Association had to be (re-)elected while its alleged representatives have been showing extracts recently issued by the Chamber and displaying them as board members.

The second, newly established association has contacted mentioned authorities pointing out the illegality of the former individuals as board members and claiming that it is the real representatives of said owners.

Elco Rosario

The St. Maarten flag symbolizes the qualities we should represent as a Nation; our flag represents the unity and love we should have for humankind, the strength and courage we should represent as a land and the appreciation we should have for our ecosystem and those that inhabit it.