(Curaçao Chronicle)
Dear Editor,
On November 20, 1493, Columbus had named a little Caribbean Island, Santa Maria del la Niebe, St. Mary of the Snow. Whether it was out of gratitude to the Saint for a safe crossing or a fata morgana of snowy Spanish Sierras appearing to a weary sailor, we do not know. Columbus’ name did not stick and was overwritten by a new mystery, one of family discord.
What was the dramatic family dispute on the island that its people called for the intervention of Saint Eustace? Eustace is one of the Fourteen Auxiliary Saints, a healer of family troubles. The Islanders even named the island after the Saint; it became known as Saint Eustatia or Statia.
In 1636, 80 Dutch families migrated from the Republic of the Low Lands and settled on the Island. Why they renamed the island after the Roman Catholic St. Eustatius, remains hidden in obscurity. Dangers seem to loom from every direction.
The fledgling Reformation in Europe, which started with Martin Luther’s statements at the Wittenberg chapel in 1517, had matured by 1618. The Synod of Dordt, where most European Protestant churches congregated, designed robust institutions for administration and religious dogma. Predestination versus free-will prevailed in a one-year long discussion.
The beheading of the 72-year-old Secretary of State Johan Van Oldenbarnevelt for his support of Arminians, the free-will advocates, sent shock waves through all of Europe and the Caribbean. Was it the ambitious Stadtholder Prince Maurits who eliminated his political opponent so that he could be crowned King? Or was the “Protestant Inquisition” as ruthless as the Catholic?
Were the settlers of 1636 maybe all Catholics who feared dissent and family discord and eventually cruel, summary justice by the Protestants? It was rumoured that also Peter Stuyvesant (1610-1672), nicknamed ‘Peg Leg Pete’, was out for personal revenge. He had lost his leg in the 1644-campaign on nearby St. Martin.
Discord out of envy was a rapidly acting poison when wealth accumulated in extraordinary proportions with a small group of Jewish traders and pirates. Jews, fleeing Iberia after the expulsion of 1492 and 1498, often became privateers and pirates out of revenge, attacking the Catholic Spanish Empire’s shipping economy.
It did not take long before Jewish pirates controlled most of the commerce from New Amsterdam to Netherlands-Brazil, with Statia as a comfortable halfway harbour. Anti-Semitism by French, British, and even Dutch grew in equal proportion with Jewish wealth and influence.
Supposedly, the Statia Jews had to appeal to their brethren in Holland, leaders of the Dutch Jewish community and significant shareholders in the Dutch West Indies Company. And it was the Dutch WIC that ultimately controlled the Caribbean Islands, including Statia. Honen Dalim, Statia’s synagogue, was built within sight of the large Dutch Reformed Church and the walls of Fort Oranje and under the express condition that “the exercise of their (Jewish) religious duties would not molest those of the Gentiles.”
Statia was the Golden Rock and for many Jews became a Golden Door to the New World. Thousands of ships called at Statia’s harbour annually. Hundreds and hundreds of warehouses, crammed with trading goods and slaves, lined the shore below the walls of Fort Oranje.
In April 1665, Gerrit Gerritzoon, alias Roche Braziliano of Groningen and Port Royal, was ordered by Governor Sir Thomas Modyford of Jamaica to raid Statia with a fleet of privateers.
“To fall upon the Dutch fleet trading at St. Christopher’s, capture Eustatia, Saba, and Curaçao, and on their homeward voyage, visit the French and English buccaneers at Hispaniola and Tortuga.”
A charge by 350 Buccaneers easily overwhelmed the island’s outnumbered and surprised Dutch garrison. Gerritszoon and the other privateers remained in control of St. Eustatius looting and pillaging what they could. “They seized 910 slaves, and considerable booty renamed the island ‘New Dunkirk,’ and deported 250 residents to Barbados.”
Jacob Gelt Dekker
Dear Editor,
When learning of the passing of former President of the Collectivité the Honourable Mrs. Aline Hanson, I share the sentiments of many that our people of both North and South have lost a soft spoken Lady Leader who cared deeply for the wellbeing of her people and for her island.
I had the privilege to meet with Mrs. Hanson officially and un-officially on several occasions over the many years that both she and I had been in elected office. During our term, when invited to meet with the first Parliament of St. Maarten, her office immediately responded positively. Under her leadership the Territorial Council of St. Martin attended a meeting on August 9, 2013. It was agreed then among others to have a follow-up meeting to discuss several pressing issues as recorded in the Parliamentary year report 2012-2013 including safety and security, European funding and the formalization of a structural working relationship between Parliament’s permanent committees and the Territorial Council committees.
Lady Hanson exuded a naturally calm demeanour, listening carefully and with respect to the function that she was “unexpectedly” entrusted with as she was called to represent her people during her term as the first female President of the Collectivité.
Mrs. Hanson dealt with the “upside” as well as with the perils that regrettably go with the occupation of such high public of elected and appointed offices.
On behalf of the P.P.A party, my family and I extend our heartfelt sympathy to the family, friends, constituents and people of St. Martin with the passing of former President of the Collectivité the Honourable Mrs. Aline Hanson. May her soul rest in eternal peace as she joins those great leaders before her who truly cared.
Gracita Arrindell
President, People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA)
Dear Editor,
The Receivers Office recently with great pride made it known that some 30,000 plus licence plates were sold. It may have been a statistical achievement but, when you drive on the airport strip, where most of the car rental operations are located you ask yourself why so many rentals in their compound are carrying French licence plates while operating out of Dutch St. Maarten.
Is this a sign that the government agency responsible for the issuance, regulating, and control of licence plates turned a blind eye which allowed this?
While the common man/woman can’t get away from taxation, and the threat of confiscation of their hard owned property these car rental operators enjoy cheating the government out of a much needed revenue.
The Mongoose is back, and will be monitoring this gross non-compliance of car rental operators avoiding and circumventing paying much needed revenue to government.
The Mongoose
Dear Editor,
Permit me to convey some thoughts to our Minister of Economic Affairs Melissa Arrindell-Doncher with the expectation that she would examine the content from a wide-ranging perspective.
At the onset: to stay away from the press briefings gives the impression that your ministry has distanced itself from the population. It is quite understandable that you will not be able to attend all of the meetings. If this is the case, then consider delegating someone so that your substitute can relay the information to the people.
Over the years, the island has not been privileged to have had a minister whose vision encompasses the economic development for all peoples nor has any one of them provided an even distribution of the various businesses. This imbalance that spreads throughout the island is destroying the authenticity of the environment which is creating animosity and frustration towards government.
At present, the island is overrun by snack bars, coffee shops and restaurants. It is amazing how government is still cash strapped with so many vibrant businesses. Not every request needs a favourable response. A reply should be based on the incentive that the business is bringing to the overall development of the country. When would there be a halt on these types of establishments that are consistently polluting the air with excessive noise? Frankly, when will enough be enough?
Besides, if the island is saturated with these types of businesses now where do the possibilities lie for the youngsters who are following culinary courses at NIPA or abroad? What would happen to them if they decide to establish individual restaurants to promote the island’s culture? Should their education be limited to just being employees earning meagre salaries, or would they be offered the same opportunity to invest and elevate the tourism product?
With regard to mechanic shops – when will the Department of Economic Affairs take the public into consideration before issuing these licences? All over the place one can see garages right next to restaurants and in the middle of densely populated areas. This is execution without vision, when the smut tends to land any and everywhere. On top of that, the thrilling sound of the machineries is also very disturbing when mechanics choose to work on Sundays and holidays; the only rest day that most of us have.
On the matter of holidays – there needs to be some serious reconsideration regarding restricting businesses to close on just a few designated holidays. Instead, every single holiday should be respected; therefore, all establishments should be closed. This preference that is given to bars and restaurants is utter nonsense because only then the noise escalates and employees become burnt out. It also contributes directly to the downfall of the family because some mothers have to neglect their children and careless fathers spend the day drinking booze.
Another upsetting issue is to hear the cries of the guests that come to our shores; even those with vacation homes. Several of them have openly expressed their dissatisfaction regarding time share owners and their disgust with the noise pollution. The complaints are occurring too often, and to ignore them is a form of depleting the genuineness of our tourism product. This is not good customer service at all. We must always safeguard the product that is offered to the guests, as the experience is far more important than the physical beauty of the land. Perhaps it should become mandatory for these businesses to install a sound proof system.
The rapid escalation of prices in grocery stores appear to be the concern of just the small man because politicians have the means to buy, no matter the cost. How long will the people continue to suffer while government allows grocery owners to do whatever they please, not realizing the adverse effect that this situation is having on the budget? Speaking of groceries, not enough items are included under the category of “basic needs.” This is an area that requires some serious attention.
Minister Arrindell-Doncher, in order to execute your task from the premise of serving the people, I implore you to use wisdom and take a page from our honourable Ombudsman Nilda Lynch-Arduin. The cries of the people are what will direct you to enact change, but it all begins with listening!
Joslyn Morton
Dear Editor,
Congratulations to Drs. Eugene Holiday for hosting a timely, well-organized, informative symposium, entitled “ICT Governance: Shaping our Future”. The world of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is ever expanding, and Sint Maarten needs to get on board before we are left behind. ICT is not only about having faster Internet and more computers and smartphones in our society. Rather, it is more about planning, implementing and managing technology in order to promote and enhance the flow of information to and from citizens, and to provide efficient service to citizens and to businesses.
Where does Parliament stand in terms of ICT? Very poorly! A few months ago, when reviewing Parliament’s website in terms of the information it provides and how it interacts with the people, it was obvious that in both instances Parliament failed dismally. On March 27th of this year, a letter was delivered to the President of Parliament offering suggestions as to how to improve Parliament’s website so that the people could be better informed and served. Having received no response or even a confirmation from Parliament, this letter was resubmitted on June 13.
To the Honourable Member & President of Parliament. As a concerned citizen, profoundly interested in the role and functioning of the Parliament of Sint Maarten, it is my belief that Parliament, as the direct representative body of the people of Sint Maarten, should be more transparent, accountable and communicative towards the people of this country. It behoves Parliament to disseminate as much information as possible in order to raise the level of awareness of the people concerning this new and august co-legislative and supervisory body in Sint Maarten.
Consequently, I would like, via this letter, to draw your attention to the following concerns and suggestions that would serve to raise the transparency level between parliament and the people of Sint Maarten. The following suggestions also address the question raised by the St Maarten 2015 National Integrity System Assessment on page 32, and issued by Transparency International, namely: To what extent can the public obtain relevant and timely information on the activities and decision-making processes of the legislature in practice?
As Parliament’s website is the main source of information at this time, it should be relevant, user friendly and easily accessible to the people. Please note that the current website is in urgent need of a general overhaul. The audio archives need some serious updating. The last audio recording dated back to January 26, 2016. Note also that not all of the parliamentary meetings are available in the audio archives. Furthermore, the audio files need to be labelled better so that one can easily find the meeting one is looking for.
The video archives are in need of some serious updating and overhauling as well. These need to be complete because several video recordings of parliamentary meetings have not been taken up in the archives and consequently, people who go to the archives are unable to find what they are looking for. For example, the first meeting of the NA/UP Government held on October 31st is missing; also, the budget meetings held in December 2016 are incomplete. In addition, the meeting concerning the establishment of parliamentary committees is also missing. These are but a few examples of missing videos on the website. Furthermore, the videos also need to be clearly labelled and identified so that one can find a particular meeting with much greater ease than now is the case.
The telephone numbers, email addresses and office hours of the MPs should be listed. I hereby also suggest that a brief Bio of each MP be given as well as the various committees that an MP is a member of.
I tested parliament’s email address that is listed on the website (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) by submitting a question to parliament. To my surprise and joy I received an immediate reply stating that I would receive an answer within one business day. Three months have since passed and I am still awaiting the promised reply from Parliament. I suggest that someone of the administration be assigned to check Parliament’s emails and to ensure that the necessary follow up is carried out expeditiously.
I have noticed that the Parliament of Curaçao posts all the documents related to the agenda points of a meeting on their website. Is it possible for the Parliament of Sint Maarten to also post the same on its website? Minutes of public and committee meetings are not available on the website. Will these be posted soon on the website?
These are just a few of the observations and suggestions that I submitted in writing to the President of Parliament. I ended my letter by stating that in the interest of ensuring that the people of Sint Maarten receive accurate, relevant and timely information, “I kindly request that you look into the above-mentioned issues and problems so that the people will be kept abreast of what is taking place in Parliament with their elected representatives.
Trusting that you will be able to improve the communication and information flow between parliament and the people in the near future, I remain”,
Wycliffe Smith
Leader of the Sint Maarten Christian Party
