Dear Editor,

Global temperatures set yet another record last year and the world witnessed exceptionally low sea ice, and unabated sea level rise and ocean heat, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in its Statement on the State of the Global Climate in 2016, warning that the extreme weather and climate conditions have continued into 2017.

The extreme climate conditions also added to human suffering: 2016 saw severe droughts, affecting millions in southern and eastern African and Central American countries. For example in the Caribbean Hurricane Matthew – the first category 4 (CAT4) storm to make landfall since 1963 – tore a path of destruction in Haiti and inflicted significant economic losses in the Caribbean region.

At least three times so far this winter (2017), the Arctic saw what can be called the Polar equivalent of a heatwave, with powerful Atlantic storms driving an influx of warm, moist air, meaning that at the height of the Arctic winter and the sea ice refreezing period, there were days which were actually close to melting point due to warm temperatures in this part of the world.

Antarctic sea ice has also been at a record low, in contrast to the trend in recent years, and some areas, including Canada and much of the United States, were unusually balmy, whilst others, including parts of the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa, were unusually cold in early 2017.

St. Maarten, and the other islands of the Caribbean Basin also experienced unusually cool/chilly weather during the first two-months of 2017, a testament to ongoing global climate change now also at our doorstep.

In the United States (US) alone 11,743 warm temperature records were broken or tied in February, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the WMO.

The aforementioned might seem worlds apart from St. Maarten and our sphere of life, but it is as close as it gets as well – climate change.

“We are dealing with scientific facts, not politics, and the facts are clear; climate change is a direct threat in itself, and a multiplier of many other threats,” UN Secretary-General (SG) António Guterres recently told a General Assembly High-Level action event aimed at invigorating political momentum on climate change, highlighting its deep links to the United Nations 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.

UN SG Guterres said his messages to the meeting are simple: “First, climate change is an unprecedented and growing threat – to peace and prosperity and the same in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs – Ed.]. Second, addressing climate change is a massive opportunity that we cannot afford to miss,” he said.

Tackling climate change is a tremendous opportunity for Governments and business as there is no trade-off between a healthy environment and a healthy economy.

Our economy is based on tourism, a single pillar. This means that we have to be very conscious to protect what we have built over several decades. Our current economic base is facing many challenges, and growth has not been that positive for a number of years.

St. Maarten’s coral reefs according to the St. Maarten Nature Foundation contribute annually over US $66 million to our economy. The diving sector is one of our key areas just like cruise tourism, and the mega-yacht/yachting sector, but receives very little fanfare. The Nature Foundation carried out an Economic Valuation Study on St. Maarten’s coral reef ecosystems.

“The report highlights the economic contribution of healthy coral to the economy of St. Maarten, which was found to be US $66,606,042. This study is an update of the 2010 study which found that coral reefs contribute US $57,742,997 to the economy, and reflects the increase in coral reef associated values since the establishment of the Man of War Shoal Marine Protected Area.

“The results of this study show that Coral Reefs are one of the island’s most valuable resources and provide livelihoods through coral reef associated tourism as well as protection from large, damaging waves caused by hurricanes.

“The marine environment of St Maarten includes more than 16 square kilometres of globally threatened coral reef as well as seagrass and mangrove ecosystems. St. Maarten’s marine environment is a home and migratory stopover or breeding site for various endangered species and the beaches and waters attract approximately two million visitors a year, creating employment for 85 per cent of the island’s population both directly and indirectly. Tourism and the marine industry contribute significantly to the economy and both sectors depend on the health of St. Maarten’s marine resources,” according to the Nature Foundation.

The aforementioned presents additional opportunities for our country and economy. Additional protected areas should be introduced which would lead to new diving sites (e.g. manmade for the development of our ecosystem) that would further add to the protection of our coastal communities from storm surge; would provide new areas for coral reef growth and growth in fish populations; would create more employment opportunities for our youth as the dive sector grows.

Government and Parliament should work together with stakeholders in developing an “Integral Marine Protection-Dive/Fishery Sector Development Plan” that would nurture the aforementioned in a sustainable manner.

Our country’s underwater ecosystem is not protected from climate change. Reef systems across the globe have experienced “coral bleaching.” Coral bleaching is the dying of corals due to high water temperatures. Nature Foundation says while any stress can cause corals to bleach, high water temperature has been the major cause of coral bleaching events worldwide in recent decades. When corals bleach for a significant period of time they run the risk of dying all together. Our Nature Foundation has a “Coral Bleaching Response Plan” which was drafted back in 2010.

“Although the consensus is still out, the increased incidences of Coral Bleaching is more than likely caused by the heating up of the earth due to global warming. In the past decades the Caribbean in particular has seen an increased number of coral bleaching events with the last major bleaching occurring in 2005, where more than half of the Coral Reefs in the Caribbean, including St. Maarten, died,” our Nature Foundation reported.

Climate change is a scientific fact. Our underwater ecosystem is making a positive economic impact for the national economy, and can be further developed in a sustainable manner while at the same time mitigating the effects of climate change. In order to accomplish the aforementioned, the necessary urgency and attention of discussion along with resources must be provided.

Where is the country in preparing our readiness and resilience in a time of climate change for a healthy environment and a healthy economy?

Roddy Heyliger

Dear Editor,

The administrator of the National Bank of Anguilla Private Bank & Trust (NBA PB&T), William Tacon, and perhaps others, have been publicly accused of trying to “frustrate [Anguilla’s] banking resolution process.”

   I lived in Anguilla in early 2000, at the time I opened a bank account at NBA, which I kept when I left. As a part of the so-called “banking resolution process,” all my money at NBA was confiscated. There are many more like me – people who once lived on Anguilla, people who live in St. Martin and banked in Anguilla, non-belongers still living on Anguilla – who had their entire deposits confiscated as a part of the “resolution” process. Ordinary people, some who kept the bulk of their entire life savings at NBA; ordinary people, some of whom now cannot pay for their children's schooling or who were denied the payment of essential medical bills because of the “resolution” process.

Your readers may or may not be aware that what this “process” was is the total expropriation of foreign depositors; not down to our last dollar, not down to our last dime, but down to our last penny. What made the difference as to whether you got all your money back or whether you lost all your money in the “resolution” process was whether you were a belonger or a non-belonger.

What those of us who were so expropriated wish to do is not to frustrate any process at all; indeed, we wish to do nothing at all. We would much rather not be in the position we find ourselves in ­– and into which we have been forced by the actions of Anguilla’s politicians – at all. Many of us consider ourselves friends of Anguilla. We understand that Anguilla’s economy is in a difficult situation (but I urge you to consider that so are the economies of some of the places those of us who were expropriated live. In the last 3 years, Sark’s population has declined by 26 per cent due to economic emigration as there are no jobs. In that timeframe, most of Sark’s large employers have closed down including 67 per cent of our hotels).

All we wish is to be treated equally to all the other depositors. We understand that banks sometimes fail and when they do depositors may lose some of their money. We just don't expect to lose all our money – particularly when others walk away with all of theirs or are even able to continue to borrow money from the very same bank which claims it has no money to repay deposits (as was done at NBA). Not only is it morally wrong to treat depositors differently, the law requires that in the case of a bank's failure all depositors are treated equally and that they all lose the same proportion of their deposits. To do otherwise is not just immoral, it is fraud.

The law was flouted, brazenly, and in many cases, the expropriation has led to real and tangible hardship. We do not want to have to pursue any legal route and we did not seek to have to do so. Indeed, many who were expropriated cannot even afford to do so. William Tacon is the only champion of such depositors.

When people are pushed into a corner and have everything – absolutely everything – taken away from them and are left with nothing – absolutely nothing – to lose, what should they do? Keep quiet and die. What kind of a callous person does it take to attack and accuse such people of trying to “frustrate” his “process”?

The actions taken by politicians may be designed to endear them with their electorate in the short term, but I suggest they are not in Anguilla’s best long term interest.

Firstly, what does this do for the long term reputation and economic prospects of Anguilla and for the prospects of foreign investors investing in Anguilla in the future? If a country confiscates foreign savers’ deposits in this fashion, word will get around. This matter has already received considerable coverage in news media around the world and Anguilla’s reputation as a place in which to do business has plummeted.

If the Government of Anguilla cannot protect innocent people who trusted their money to something as supposedly safe as a bank account, how can investors in projects such as hotels in Anguilla feel comfortable with their ventures? The answer is that they cannot. If those investors stop investing in Anguilla because of this it would be a disaster for Anguilla. Hotels and other properties would likely close, Anguillians and belongers would likely lose their jobs and livelihoods could be destroyed. As a consequence, lots more businesses would close and banks very likely could fail again. Anguilla’s progress since the 1967 revolution would be wiped out and reversed. So, the jobs and livelihood of Anguillians is at risk.

Secondly, expropriation without compensation, particularly if it involves discrimination on the basis of national origin, is a very serious violation of international law by which every civilized nation including Anguilla and the United Kingdom (on Anguilla’s behalf) is bound. To illustrate, there is historic precedent for a country expropriating the assets of foreigners or of those they deemed did not belong (and of course it is much easier to expropriate the assets of those who live far away and who don’t have a vote than of those who do and whom you have to look in the eye every day). In the 20th century, a certain European country, at the behest of its “Chief Minister”, confiscated all the assets of their Jews; Robert Mugabe tried something similar in Zimbabwe. Neither did so as efficiently or as thoroughly as Anguilla has done – they both only got some of the foreigners assets under their control, while Anguilla expropriated all its non-belonger deposits in their entirety (so perhaps the banking “resolution” process would more accurately be called the “final solution” process).

To avoid such situations, after the Second World War, international conventions were signed which prohibit such expropriation and which brand it a “human rights abuse” and as a “gross human rights violation” – which of course is exactly what it is. Unless the matter is resolved either voluntarily by Anguilla or involuntarily in the local courts, it is most likely that Anguilla will find itself being found guilty of human rights abuses by the international courts in which such matters are litigated (and consequently be found financially liable too). Is such a reputation really in Anguilla’s best interest?

And thirdly, if the courts find in favour of those foreign depositors who have lost their money and livelihoods then ultimately it is very likely that the Government of Anguilla (in other words, the Anguillian taxpayer) will have to pay for this –10s of millions of US dollars, possibly more than the Government’s revenue for the whole year. Taxes, duties and levies would very likely have to be increased to a crippling degree to pay for this.

Tomaž Slivnik

Sark, Channel Islands

Dear Editor,

As “reviews” come in from the Sea Trade Cruise Global 2017 (Seatrade), just recently concluded in Fort Lauderdale, we hear much of the same following any conference of this nature. In addition, there has been somewhat of a “to-do,” due to local reports of Members of Parliament attending the Seatrade conference. Firstly, let me make it clear that there was no representation from Parliament as such at the conference.

However, the whole discussion does raise the following questions: What was “our” message at the 2017 cruise conference? What did we learn at the conference? And most importantly, what will be done with this information? Where does Cruise feature in our National Plan or Programme?

As I look out over Great Bay harbour every day (ships or no ships), these questions inevitably pop up.

Like nearly everything else, Cruise is not a lone standing pillar, as strong as it might appear, and no single person or group “owns” this industry. There are so many topics that relate directly or indirectly to the cruise industry and that is why the positioning of Cruise on our national agenda is paramount for the simultaneous discussions on the environment, the infrastructure, energy, waste, health, crime etc.

To give a glaring example: the perils local cyclists face on the St. Maarten roads, now also daunt our (cruise) visitors who wish to make use of alternative means to tour the island. A new niche, I am sure, but this must be stimulated. I hold my heart every day as I see cyclists, especially those unfamiliar with our roads and traffic trying to manoeuvre their way around.

Bottom line: the cruise sector needs a wholesome approach to be effective, separate from the question of how far we can expand the cruise sector due to capacity limits in the complementing fields mentioned above, as well as the fact that several of these fields also offer some potential for growth, such as in the energy and health areas.

Sarah Wescot-Williams

President of Parliament

Dear Editor,

When journalism is at a level where investigative reporting becomes stagnated, it paves the way for politicians to be negligent, which eventually causes the entire country to suffer. Likewise, when there is a partially-functional Parliament, some ministers appear to be geniuses, while they are in fact, just testing the intelligence of parliamentarians and the public in general.

Every time the population is faced with issues that demand the attention of government, some ministers conveniently choose to pass the buck to their colleagues, or even offer words of sympathy, just to take the spotlight off them. This practice is commonplace for Social Affairs Minister Emil Lee. In the beginning, I was really impressed with his determination to see a new hospital realized. The approach that he took was different and appeared to be of a sincere nature. But when I pondered on the Minister’s relentless pursuit of something that was not his initiative, then it raises some unsettling questions.

Why would a minister neglect the rest of his portfolio and race to complete a project that was never a part of his initial vision? Nothing is wrong with the physical structure of the hospital. What’s lacking are more sophisticated equipment and highly-skilled professionals, to meet the needs of the patients. In terms of the building itself, the hospital in the North is not one that is considered state-of-the-art. Yet, the Minister is seeking continued collaboration, to avoid duplicating equipment and cut cost. So, is it the building that determines the quality of care or having modernized tools and competent human resources?

With this in mind, who will benefit the most in this consistent push to build a new hospital? Viewing the scenario from various angles, there is a lot more to this persistence, than what meets the eye. In addition, every time the Minister travels, he enquires about medical care in that specific country and the cost for sending patients there. Just the other day, it was the Cayman Islands; one of the, if not the most expensive territories in the entire Caribbean. What is the real reason behind these enquiries? Why can’t the focus be shifted towards investing in new equipment and medical specialists?

In last week’s press briefing, Minister Lee proudly publicized the success of his fieldwork. The Minister feels that he has accomplished a lot, but this exercise has only revealed his lack of interest in dealing with the social issues that are plaguing the country. This should have been his priority from the get go. Instead, he wasted more than a year talking about building a new hospital that is nowhere in sight. In all his travelling abroad, I cannot recall that Minister Emil Lee has ever returned to this country and given an account of matters affecting the handicapped, youth, seniors, labour affairs or how to reduce poverty. How come he has never had this interest, but tries to convince the public that he cares by building a new hospital?

What about the jobless, due to this discriminatory and broken labour system that supports only the elitists? Did the Minister control any of the employment agencies? Here is where a lot of the ills have originated. So, how long will this so-called noise of compliance last? It is only because the Minister came under fire on February 15th that this drive for compliance is set in motion. Prior to that, he had no interest in curbing the evils that are affecting this society. All we are getting from the Minister is pretty talk and no action to stifle this persistent rat race!

Another thing, Minister Lee has never been forthcoming with a full response. He always gives partial answers about a particular issue, until he is pressured to complete the story. This reaction has occurred on several occasions. Then it calls to question how much does this Minister really value the matter of transparency and integrity? Speaking of transparency: Was it the Minister’s decision to select the recently-appointed mediators or was it one of his colleagues in the Council of Ministers? Furthermore, how come these mediators were hand-picked, as opposed to the vacancies being advertised?

This is how the matters of integrity and transparency are being used conveniently, just to accommodate certain politicians. It is time that the public faces the harsh reality of understanding that the heart is what guides the action of this Minister and every other politician!

Joslyn Morton