Dear Editor,

In the early days when jobs were non-existent in Anguilla, men had to abandon their families and traverse to distant shores in search of employment. As a consequence the women were left at home to raise and maintain the children with the help of, in some cases, meagre stipends or submissions that would come back. Our women have always been the ones to get things done.

Who can forget the women of Island Harbour and other places during the revolution? You had to go through those women to get to Webster, and you had better not disrespect him, for you would have the wrath of Ronald’s Ladies come down on you. I don’t say that to be disrespectful, I say it to make a point that women dating back as far as anyone can remember were the ones who raised us, who fought for us and who defended us, no matter what. Of course, if you were in the wrong, you got it from both ends.

As the title of this piece suggests, if not now, when? When will we give our women the chance they so richly deserve? The late Albena Lake Hodge, Dame Bernice Lake, and Idalia Gumbs to name just a few, have been stalwarts when it came to Anguilla. They got things done and they were highly respected. No one dared say anything negative to or about those women, because they always had country first.

It is sad to see what we’ve as a nation reverted to. Anguilla has been revered because of its people. We were ambassadors when we went abroad. When you told someone you were from Anguilla, they respected you and thought very highly of you. Anguilla sold itself on the backs of the goodwill of its people. So when I hear certain individuals talking about the new business they’ve brought in, that’s just not the case.

The time has come for our women to once more take the stage front and centre. It is a known fact that women are more committed to getting things done, and are less likely to engage in fraud and the like. For too long now we’ve watched and listened to the men make one colossal mess of things. My fellow Anguillians, we cannot continue to go down this path. Too many of us made too many sacrifices to just stand back and condone what’s going on. We simply can’t stand by and let the bloggers, who are nothing more than yellow cowards, practicing that old Anguillian past time of throwing stones and hiding their hands dictate what we can and can’t do.

Guys, when you go on the House floor and behave the way in which you do, you disgrace the hallowed halls of the people’s house. Those of you who through whichever way you were elected, know who you are. You were elected to do a job and when you get on the floor and ridicule an individual just because that person might be an opponent in an upcoming election, you ought to hang your head in shame.

The thing is this, you guys lack the class to go with the high office to which you’ve been elected. And those of you who were not elected, to think you would have the cojones to get on the floor and talk about a specific person in which you did? Back to you bloggers, you are irrelevant. If you don’t have the guts to sign your name, you don’t count. Ask yourselves the question: What have I done for my country? If you’ve not done anything to help your fellow man, then shut up and stop drinking Kool Aid.

If you’ve got something to say, write a letter to the editor and sign it with your real name. You’re either the solution or the problem. Which one are you? All of you who write that crap on AXA Reality, why don’t you do something constructive with your lives, instead of parroting the crap that someone else feeds you? Think about what you are writing. Is it true and what are your sources? Anyone with half a brain can see what the game plan is.

You guys have taken a page out of Richard Nixon playbook and that is to slam your opponent before he or she can slam you. That usually means you try to make the other guy look bad, because you have nothing to offer and that is the case. Those running for re-election cannot say they’ve done a good job, and therefore deserve another five years. So they have no choice but to try and muddy the waters for any potential threats that might cause them to lose.

Folks, we can see beyond all the smoke screens that these guys will throw at us. Again I say, it’s time to bring out the brooms and make a clean sweep. We’ve gone along with these ne’er-do-wells for far too long now. It is time we bring in new blood that are capable of getting things done. Anguilla has been lying stagnant for far too long, and it’s time we assume our rightful place in a world that has gone global.

Let us get our women involved in politics again; let us respect and welcome those indigenous brothers and sisters back home with open arms, rather than clenched fists. Let us use the so-called elites for the betterment of the rock.

Tyrone Hodge

Dear Editor,

Like we say, one thing brings another. I think that I have mentioned in the past that I have no problem copying the good thing. I am sure that many of our people have gone to the carnival in Aruba and have seen the booths, tents and stands and toilets along the way. I’m sorry to have to mention that what I have seen here so far along the Nisbeth road is a far cry from Aruba.

I also usually respond when St. Maarten is compared to other places in the world that I live on St. Maarten, but in this case it is a question of order and order counts all over.

Also I do not understand the logic in booths very close to each other blasting their stereo sets so that one cannot distinguish one’s music from the other. Like I said one thing brings the other so my intention was to compliment Mr. Ferrier’s letter in both ways by adding that I have to mention one of the many similar cases, that I have seen a female security officer in uniform driving a taxi.

That snack on the intersection of Longwall Road and the W.J.A. Nisbeth Road also in my opinion needs the same scrutiny as Captain Dino’s. I was always against that type of business at that location, especially in connection with road safety and among other reasons, littering. I never condone wrongdoing but what is good for the goose should be good for the gander and I know that everybody in Government is aware of who gets away with murder and who becomes the victim and for which reasons.

Which brings me to another thing: The word Karma; I have learned not to say “good for you” (our meaning) and not to gloat, but must not we agree that what goes around comes around and that the love of money (and power) is what causes all kinds of trouble to all involved. So when you burn your backside should not you sit on the blisters even till 2018.

I have said it before and will repeat it from time to time. Everything that I have experienced in my life I have found written in the bible, so if one looks up Luke 12:41-48 one should not be surprised when certain things come to pass. Let us try to be fair to each other.

Russell A. Simmons

Dear Editor,

The Central Committee of Parliament made history last week when it scheduled ample time to discuss the 2016-2020 Governing Programme “Solidarity for Prosperity”. As far as I can recall, this is the first time that Parliament planned so many meetings to handle a governing programme. The only other topic for which so many meetings are scheduled by Parliament is the country’s budget. I am a strong believer that these two go hand-in-hand and we should expect to see the priorities and projects listed in the governing programme also reflected in all future budgets presented.

The United Democratic Alliance (UDA), comprised of the United St. Maarten Party (USP), Democratic Party (DP) and National Alliance (NA) factions, also ought to be commended for their display of unity during the opening presentation. Unfortunately, the individual presentations by the various ministers sounded more like the wish list of excited children in a toy store who want everything in the store without taking their parents’ pocketbook into consideration. The Ministers should have presented a more realistic overview of their 2017 plans and how these corroborate with the 2017 budget of the country. In my opinion, the Minister of Education came the closest to doing just that.

Parliamentarians who are part of the coalition should realize that working on drafting the governing programme does not exempt them from still being critical and asking pertinent questions concerning the programme. They must remember that the general public did not get the opportunity to read the governing programme for themselves, therefore any question or comment raised by a parliamentarian would definitely help to further inform and enlighten the general public. In addition, I am of the opinion that the governing programme must be synchronized with the budget. Just as parliamentarians raised many critical questions during the budget debate, they should also be just as critical about the governing programme, particularly as it relates to financing the various plans and projects.

The President of Parliament, the Honourable Sarah Wescot-Williams, although being part of the UDA coalition, still raised several pertinent points regarding the governing programme and even went as far as to caution the government to “keep their finger on the pulse of” issues such as waste management, the hospital and healthcare, and the integrity chamber. The other members of parliament, especially our first-time parliamentarians, can learn a lot from the vast parliamentary experience of our President of Parliament.

The absence of the United People’s (UP) Party at the meeting is regrettable and cause for great concern. The UP faction missed out on a golden opportunity to truly represent the people of St. Maarten. People call the UP the opposition in Parliament. The better name, however, would be “the minority faction”, because the word “opposition” implies that their job is solely to oppose whatever government proposes or does, which is not the case. The role of the minority faction is to be very critical of government’s proposals in order to ensure that these benefit the people and are executed in a responsible manner. In fact, this should be the role of all parliamentarians, whether they are in the coalition or in the minority faction.

Unfortunately, the UP parliamentarians chose to be missing in action and consequently did not live up to their responsibility to represent all of the people of St. Maarten as stipulated in article 44 of the Constitution. This type of political tactics belongs to old school politics and do not contribute to raising the bar in Parliament. If they were present, the UP minority faction would have demonstrated political maturity. Are we to interpret this absence to mean that the governing programme is worthless and does not deserve UP’s time or energy? Does this absence signify that UP does not care about the people’s business and does not have any interest in the plans that government has for this country? Is this absence an indication that the party is still upset and bitter about not being in government and that this is a way to boycott everything that the UDA government plans to do for the people? Does UP’s absence mean that the minority faction in Parliament is not taking its commitment to represent the people seriously? I am of the opinion that once politicians have been elected to Parliament they should begin to act like statesmen and put the people’s business before politics. It is time we raise the bar in our Parliament! I believe that the UP faction owes all the people of St. Maarten, whom they should have been representing during the meeting on the governing programme, an explanation and/or an apology.

What example did the UP faction set, and what message have they sent by being absent and forfeiting their responsibility to represent the people? Are they telling our people that if they do not agree with the people on their jobs they can just stay away without giving a notice of absence or an apology? Being business people themselves, they very well know that in the corporate world this type of behaviour would never be tolerated. There, it is expected that employees who don’t show up to work give a valid reason for their absence otherwise they suffer the consequences. They can receive a warning, the time away from the job can be deducted from their salaries or they can eventually be fired. Unfortunately, in the case of our parliamentarians there is no immediate sanction. However, seeing that the UP faction was absent without notice, I wonder … would they do the honourable thing and instruct the President of Parliament to have the hours that they did not attend the April 20th meeting, deducted from their salaries?

Wycliffe Smith

Leader of the Sint Maarten Christian Party

Dear Editor,

Closed down, victim of a possibly outdated, easily circumvented Government policy on vending licenses. That policy states (and I am paraphrasing) that vending licenses can only be issued to unemployed persons, who have no other means of income. Capt. Dino does have a day job. But I suggest we do not go down that road.... how many persons with a day job, including Commissioners (when we were the Government) and now Parliamentarians, civil servants and other holders of jobs in the public, as well as private sectors did and do not also hold taxi, bus and/or other permits that are supposed to only be issued to persons with no other means of income?

I know, two wrongs do not make a right... But Capt. Dino in his latest FB rant has a point. Why should he and his wife, two local St. Maarteners, have to jump through hoops to show their ambition, their good intentions, their entrepreneurial spirit here on their own soil? Dino and his wife are ambitious.

They are as local as can be. They have been allowed to operate their shack for the past several years now. Their Chicken Shack has grown to be a favourite hangout for locals, as well as tourists. They offer an excellent F&B product. Taking into consideration how difficult it is for locals to get financing from our local financial institutions, thanks to Capt. Dino's day job salary, he was able to start up and grow their now well-known Simpson Bay parking lot local/tourist hang out, thereby contributing in a positive way to our economy in general and our tourism in particular.

Do I believe it could use some sprucing up and made to look more presentable for the area it is in? The answer is yes. Do I believe they should not turn the newly-constructed public parking lot on the Simpson Bay strip into an uncontrolled-growth, open-air restaurant without running water and properly operating bathroom facilities? The answer is yes. Do I believe our present and subsequent governments could at times look at individual circumstances and ensure that well-intentioned local St. Maarteners, especially those with a positive personal track record, are not hurt by policies that, with all due respect, should have been put in place to protect, rather than hinder and fight local citizens? The answer here again is yes!

So, I implore the powers that are, to find a solution, if need be, by thinking and acting "outside of the proverbial box" to allow Dino and his wife to re-open Dino's Chicken Shack on the Simpson Bay public parking lot. Their ribs are DA BOMB!!

Michael J. Ferrier