Dear Editor,

On November 14, 2016, out of frustration, a social media challenge was issued to the citizens of St. Maarten, particularly to those that are a part of the Facebook group WiVoice. Admittedly this was not my finest moment, I was frustrated with yet again another day of chemical smoke from the dump filling my nose, but the hash tag trail was formed and the challenge was simple.

1. Share the image with the hash tag #1sxmchallenge

2. Tag any and as many local politicians as you like, at least one.

3. Tell them your main concern or ask a question, example “Why can’t you give us a solid, viable solution for the dump issue?” Prime Minister of St. Maarten

4. Spread the awareness.

Now to my surprise many took up the cause, many more shared the initiative and other just questioned why. Of those who read and complied with “point number 3” this is what I have collected:

Point number 3: “Tell them your main concern or ask a question, example “Why can't you give us a solid, viable solution for the dump issue?” Prime Minister of Sint Maarten”

* What is the truth about the plans for the dump?

* Why is it that we can build a bridge, we can cater to cruise ships and millions of guests, we can build a rain forest park, but we can’t manage our waste issue?

* How can we continue to function as a country while our governmental infrastructure, as well as government-owned businesses is in dire need of fixing? How can St. Maarten function as a country when our basic needs seems more like a privilege than a right due to no choice of proper business competition? How can we function as a country when quorums for laws/ideas/amendments that can progress the island are not met multiple times due to personal reasons? How can St. Maarten exist when we only have one shaky economic pillar?

* The Dump should be the number one priority of Government to resolve!

* Yes!! Busy working on new projects, but can’t fix the dump. They’re so ridiculous I’m beyond tired of my nose bleeding from this smoke... get up and do something!!!

* Do our kids’ lives matter?

* Other places are turning their dumps into energy plants. Right now current is out where I live, so maybe St. Maarten can do the same thing and eliminate the waste problem and the energy problem at the same time, or at least consider that option because at the end of the day it’s not about a short term solution it’s about one that can also help our Island.

* Was in Sucker Garden and Philipsburg areas today, no breathing problems like I usually get when there is smoke from the dump, but a sudden bad feeling and dizziness occurred. Now tell me why are we paying our parliamentarians and ministers? While the Dump, on a bi-weekly basis is stifling the people, while GEBE, which I predicted after their so-called arrival of their new part, will have outages and load shedding before the end of the year. So said, so done. Now if one of us drops due to the smoke, doubt anything will get done, but if one of our elected or appointed officials or tourists collapse (not wishing for it to happen, just talking facts), we will see how fast this issue will be resolved.

* Dear Government of St. Maarten my daughter, who suffers from asthma, had an attack at school this morning due to this ongoing saga.... #sad. We need this fixed like yesterday.

* The island is run by Mafia...and that is no taradiddle! Our politicians are puppets or sell out @ 10% and the Godfather takes the 90%. The masses (voters) are selling for $300 and those that helped campaign get $30.000 or a piece of land or a job in govt., or govt- owned companies. It is no secret that certain families (in power) are taking (stealing) land from original owners or govt. and turn around and sell them for millions.

Corruption is a part of our culture and we love it! Unless we aren’t getting a little dig in....Isn't it true??

* So how come nobody is saying how much it cost to out these fires?

* No mention of the cost, no mention of the cause, no mention of the process to reduce the cause, no mention of the procedures that take place when a fire happens. No mention of the chemical components in the smoke. No mention, no mention, only half educated advice such as, “Close your windows and your doors.”

* This is why I was so upset at the school situation. Giving people information based on inaccurate results and no knowledge of the matter! We go out on elections and vote the same people in over and over! I think we, as the people, need to just stop waiting for the govt. to fix things and force them to fix it. It is our tax money they using anyhow!

These are some of the questions/comments collected after 12 hours of allowing this hashtag to circulate on social media. If the people seem ignorant it is because you no longer know how to reach and properly inform them.

These are the legitimate concerns of the people. Where are our politicians to respond? Who is going to address the people’s business now? Prime Minister, Minister of Health, Minister of VROMI, of TEATT or even Education, where is the accountability, the transparency, where is the concern for the safety and health of the nation?

I cannot speak for the people of St. Maarten; I was not elected to do so, but I can show you their words…

I hereby issue the #1SXMChallenge to you elected officials; I challenge you to tell the people the truth in regard to your handling of the dump situation. We know that there have been many fact-finding missions to the United States and Europe to find the rare and illusive waste-to-energy plant that best suites St Maarten, but where are your results What were the findings, and based on what criteria were they turned down?

It is not just 2016; I have documented 10 years of your inadequacies when it comes to the dump matter. If you will not provide the people with the information they seek, we will provide them with the motivation they need to remove you. This is not a threat, this was a long time coming, and this is a revolution.

S. Valies

Dear Editor,

The three words I used as the heading for this article are well known to the French, especially as they were key words or a motto mentioned during the French revolution. I want to focus on the word fraternity, or some might say brotherhood, and whatever comes out of it. This brings me to the purpose for using it, which is the action that was taken by the French authorities to invade Captain Oliver’s Restaurant and Marina, and arresting the owner because of so-called outstanding taxes. Taxes to whom? I believe there is a real agenda which will come to light in due season.

Now why did I mention fraternity or brotherhood? I would like to know who those persons were that invaded the Dutch side. One of the daily newspapers mentioned French authorities, therefore I need to know if it was people who looked like you and me. And if they were people who look like you and me, who authorized them to do so?

My following statement might definitely not get any applause, or maybe it might, and it has to do with the following: “The Treaty of Concordia” was signed by whom? It was signed on March 23, 1648, and you guessed it correctly, between the Dutch and the French. Our forefathers were slaves at the time, so we had no input. “The Franco Dutch Treaty was signed by whom? It was signed on May 17, 1994, by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the French Republic.

What input did we have? But still there are many who hold them dear to their hearts. And that is their God-given rights. I have heard of many MOU’s (Memorandum of Understanding), Protocols and all kinds of agreements being signed over the years by our local governments. But what kind of validity do they have? There have been many incidents where there were disputes between the Northern and Southern sides, issues that had to do with Law enforcement and public transportation, just to name a few.

I am not privy to all the documentations that have been signed by the local governments, but they have no legal basis as long as the colonial powers have the final decision. Where do we go from here? I would like to see a compilation of all those agreements that the local governments have accumulated put into one final document, and sent to the United Nations Decolonization committee. Time is of essence.

There is no brotherhood when it comes to the Republic of France and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, there is only domination in this 21^st. century for personal gratification. To my real brothers and sisters I say, let us not continue to fall into their traps, because we are the real brotherhood. Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.

George Pantophlet

Dear Editor,

As is the case in the wider world, here on St. Martin (Sint Maarten & Saint-Martin) too, transparency has become a hip hip hurray word; a feel good word; a word without spot or blemish. Few question how they came to love this word and idea so much. A word that is unsoiled and uncontested – and never connected to inhuman trends is a dangerous thing!

If you want to be taken seriously as being anti-establishment – regardless of the fact that you are a millionaire or you are politically well-connected – then make sure you use the word transparency in your criticism of the powers that be (or accuse your adversaries of being non-transparent towards “the people”). Politicians and wannabe politicians, policy makers, social activists and those who refer to themselves as concerned citizens, trip over themselves using that word.

The ideal world for these believers in transparency seems to be one where there are no secrets and no lies; everything and everyone must be clearly and completely defined. This is who I am/we are and this is what I/we think of you. A world in which we have the right to let you know what we think about you and you should know this. Everything, and we do mean everything, has to be recorded and accessible to all (from the intricate decision making processes in government to the vox populi).

This is what we call the cult of transparency and the victory of Donald Trump could be understood as the outcome of the dominance of that cult. Our plea is to say farewell to the cult of transparency and work towards a St. Martin and a world of more social and economic equality. Equality is not a hip word these days. Our wager is that once elected officials, businessmen and women and persons active in civic associations, take care of promoting and doing equality, matters will become more transparent to us all; transparent in this case meaning that individuals of all walks of life will have the skills, knowledge and moral character to pick sense out of nonsense.

But let us return to the pickle: wholesale acceptance and promotion of transparency can lead to the ascendancy of someone like Donald Trump! This seems a big leap. Many who have committed themselves to the ideology of transparency and frequently use that word, may object. They may retort that there is transparency proper and then there is the corruption of that good intended word and idea proposed by good intended technocrats and men and women who genuinely love democracy and the rainbow that is humanity.

They stress that the cult of transparency should not be confused with the thing itself (making transparent how public resources are spent and the choice of contractors determined). Trump, the aficionados of transparency respond, has nothing to do with transparency proper (think about his tax evasions, he sought to hide).

Note that their reasoning once again restores transparency to a word and an idea that is perfect. (). Transparency in their argumentation is not an outcome of other acts, but supposedly the cure and medicine for a world where the growing disparities between the have-a-lots, the have-some, the have-a-little and the have-none is wreaking havoc. Why is it so difficult for persons to allow transparency to be a soiled word/idea – like every other word/idea – that we should therefore use with caution? The movie “Liar Liar” starring Jim Carrey comes to mind and one wonders if these believers in transparency really believe in fairy tales!

If they realize that such a world would be undesirable and unworkable, they may come to see why we focus on equality – an ideal whereby there is sufficient room for equal hearing of personal and group grievances, while never compromising on equal concern for the well-being and welfare of all!

But this a tough sell to the believers in transparency. They choose to explain the rise of Trump differently. Sophisticated and less sophisticated answers are presented. Here is a summary. We are told by criticasters on CNN and the other international news channels that Trump is simply a misogynist, a bigot, a racist, a xenophobe, etc. He should be viewed as a conniving soul who brought out the worst in an America that was slowly overcoming the racial divide that has plagued the country from its inception.

As the moral progress on that front was fickle and his opponent (Hilary Clinton) could not shake off the general conviction that she was a serial liar and part of the establishment making the poor poorer, Trump was able to reawaken old fears and racial antagonisms.

Conversely, others reckon that we should not focus too much on the man and what he said, but on what he embodies. Trump they say symbolizes the unfinished work of the civil rights movement in the USA. Many in the leadership positions of that struggle became part of the establishment. Having moved up, socially and economically, they spread the myth of post-racialism. Trump shows this to be a lie. The blight of racism is alive and well among pink-skinned Americans (as it is for those with other shades) – and this holds equally for those who live in the trailer parks as for those who reside in the air-conditioned suburbs…

And, given the likes of the Geert Wilders and the Marine Le Pen’s, on the other side of the Atlantic, the same can be said for the Netherlands and France. The world from whence the colonizers came still needs to be decolonized. So to do their best believers living on St. Martin and the rest of the Global South that promote the worst kinds of racism and ethnic chauvinism in the name of “the people.” The right to freedom of expression has been negatively influenced by the cult of transparency.

An alternative explanation privileges reforming democracy. Such is the line taken by the likes of public intellectuals such as David van Reybrouck who argue that the electoral system of western democracies (including referenda) is outdated. The world of social media, where information is rampant and people form their own opinions outside of traditional channels of communication and authority, calls for new systems of governance.

We need to deepen the participation of non-elected persons in ways that also allows them to be better informed. This latter explanation shares an affinity with what we are proposing here, as it implicitly acknowledges that the tsunami of information in our social media age (with a 1001 TV channels) is mostly appealing packaged forms of misinformation.

And this goes together with a downsizing of government’s commitment to offer quality education to the most economically challenged alongside the in formalization of labour (think here on St. Martin about the six-month contracts even in sectors where such is not needed), thereby implicitly sanctioning the demise of the importance and opportunity of upward social mobility for all. In such a world hustling (legal and illegal forms) becomes the norm and security companies boom to further reassure the more well-to-do who imprison themselves after working hours in gated communities; the same persons who simultaneously decry the loss of norms and values in society. People only become well informed when the commitment to social and economic equality is non-negotiable.

And so we return to the pickle: wholesale acceptance and promotion of transparency can lead to the ascendancy of someone like Donald Trump! Many of those who voted for him view him as the man who finally removed the apron of the governing elites and big business revealing monstrosities. He has made transparent according to them that those in power are nothing but two-timers and swindlers, human reptiles, who wear three piece suits and talk a good talk while raping the struggling man and woman (those who live in the ghettoes, trailer parks, and suburbs).

…And the fact that he is offensive to women and minorities, well, his supporters reason, he is just being real and having fun. Having fun and being real (read: transparent) with a sexual and racist tinge go hand in hand - and they aver one should not be hypocritical as that is a fact for everyone! These days we are told everything ought to be transparent… Except, so it seems, making transparent how equality will be restored as the highest ideal.

Dr. Francio Guadeloupe,

President of the University of St. Martin (USM)

Sea, sun, and sand… Is my dear sweet St. Maarten’s land… Blessed with a touch of unspeakable culture that reigns and spreads across the land… The Friendly Island is what we’re known to be… A place I call home that is so dear to me.

On this day November 11th we celebrate a memorable day, we were discovered and came to life I’m so proud to say.

St. Maarten is my home, and yes this is my land. Collectively diverse and blessed I’m to take the stand. To always speak of your glory. And hope all others will see, this place called the friendly island it means so much more to you and me.

I from here!! Is my motto...that no one can take away from me. My navel string is so buried under the St. Rose Hospital tree.

St. Maarten is a true gemstone that I always plan to lift up… and on this day I decided to stand up and yes speak up. Because it hurts to see that our country can’t seem to get it right...they’re fighting the wrong battles that are noticed in plain sight.

Start focusing on the people and hear their silent cries... give them something to look forward to instead of turning a blind eye.

Let’s come together as one country...and prove all others wrong ... and bring St. Maarten back to life of the melodic “Oh sweet St. Maarten song”… that’s been engraved in our hearts and so the future generation will see. Why they call us the friendly island and also for others to see.

That united we are one country split down from French to Dutch… and together we’re going to show them why St. Maarten means so much to us.

We are the chains of mountains green and Soualiga is our name. Oh how we love our paradise with nature’s beauty and so very nice... Oh sweet St. Maarten we love thy name... and anyone who comes here will never be the same. For they’ve experienced this precious gem we call home… and now St. Maarten is a place they will always call home. It’s planted in their memories and engraved in their hearts stone... and to you my county my island the place that will always be my home...

A blessed St. Maarten’s Day I bid to you as you sit on your royal throne.

Written by Latoya Ruan