Dear Minister Plasterk, Mr. President Broekrs-Knol and members of the First Chamber,

We request your attention to the following regarding your plenary meeting on October 11, 2016.

Your Chamber has proposed on October 25 to vote to continue with the further anchoring of Bonaire (the BES islands) in your constitution. This was proposed on October 11, 2016, exactly one day after October 10, 2016, Columbus Day, which the colonization of American continent started 525 years ago and now six years after Bonaire was annexed on 10-10-10 without the consent of the Bonairean people.

On December 18, 2015, with 65 per cent no-votes, this illegal structure was clearly rejected. If you vote on October 25 in favour of, this is an infringement of our sacred self-determination and fundamental human rights and is an illegal annexation through your Dutch state system by anchoring Bonaire in your constitution.

Given your position and role as co-legislator to be independent and must take account of technical legal aspects, especially the relevance and consistency with other laws and certainly not contradicting higher laws, it is now your responsibility to definitively guarantee the rule of law and democracy. You have to respect the voice and rejection by the people of Bonaire on December 18, 2015, and not to proceed with the legislative process and to anchor Bonaire in your constitution against the wishes of the Bonairean population and international higher law.

We would like to again point out that your Chamber and the minister with this proposal intends:

* to violate your own accords in the United Nations,

* to put aside the advice of your own legal experts,

* to put aside your own appointed evaluation committee Spies opinion which stated that there is no constitutional basis to impose the anchoring of the BES islands, violating the self-determination and human rights of the humble Bonaire peoples;

* to violate the law and democratic decision of the Bonerian peoples of the clear rejection of the current structure on 18 december 2015;

* to impose your dominance;

* to infringe and breach your own commitments that you will respect the voice of the people and their acquired rights, etc., etc. ...

Your bill and intentions clearly point in the direction to legitimize the illegal annexation of Bonaire (the BES islands).

This makes the Dutch government nothing less than e.g. the paper annexation of Crimea by Russia, which was clearly rejected by the international community and the now ongoing Syria crisis and genocide with or without the consent of the international community.

The same thing happens here on Bonaire (BES Islands) where a “conquer and occupy” small paper war is going on, namely the extermination policy, genocide of the indigenous Caribbean Bonairean population with paper and laws.

Instead of this your Minister and your Chamber must stop immediately with:

* open immigration policy;

* the camouflaged euthanasia and abortion practices in the health care sector pursuing the systematic extermination of the native Bonerian;

* your cultural imperialism through imposing amoral legislation on the humble believer and Bonerian peoples,

* the invasion of European-Dutch which will neutralize the democratic right of Bonerian peoples on the short term and making the Bonerian a minority, direction cases of Russia and Crimea,

* all possible policy practices that sub-duct the economic strength and aspiration and self-reliance of indigenous Bonerian (eg closing Medical School, regulations by Authority for the Financial Markets, demotivation and segregation of indigenous Bonerian by Ducthification of the education system and policies, etc., etc.)

In summary, the chamber and the minister are planning to vote on October 25 to officially violate their self-co-signed international agreements and higher international law.

Just at this moment in time you have to show an exemplary function as board member of the security-council, but what you have in mind is the opposite; violation of rights to self-determination, human rights abuses, violation of the principles of the rule of law and democracy.

We only hope that in due time you will realize that you're violating all the above rights and that you are profiling a negative image to the world and Bonerian peoples.

It is expected that "justice for all" more or less becomes an empty slogan and that the rule of law is undermined. In this way you allow everyone to defend its own human rights and its political freedom, equality and certainly does not have to take into consideration anymore to keep or respect the law which the chamber and the Minister are knowingly violating.

Yours sincerely,

On behalf of Foundation Nos Kier Boneiru Bek

James Finies, president

Dear Editor,

In our current electoral system we vote for all 15 members of Parliament through a list system of proportional representation, for the term of four years; the so called Parliamentary Election.

So after voting the people have then voiced their opinion and through a list system of proportional representation, the 15 members “Elect” are elected to represent the people in Parliament.

If these 15 members remain with their seat and do not opt to become a Minister or Prime Minister in the formation of the government, our problem as it pertains to parliamentary democracy and Trias Politica, would still stand a chance.

After the parliamentary election parties that received the most votes can then seek through negotiations to form the government with the help of a "informateur "and "formateur" which are, by the way appointed by the Governor, most of the time the outcome of the votes cast would give room for a coalition government formation.

After the informateur or formateur is successful with a majority coalition formation (usually this person would be the proposed prime minister), it should also be noted that the proposed prime minister should be the one because he or she should not be accountable to Parliament.

Once this is realized it is then the discussions on allocation of the various ministerial and state secretary post begins, this can be quite a struggle, this because each party in the coalition will try to obtain the most important ministerial post.

The ideal situation is that ministers and or state secretary should be chosen from those that were on the party list, this most of the time is not done this way, having one to wonder why these individuals was placed on the party list in the first place period!

The coalition government then chooses their constituencies (ministers and state secretary).

So now you have a Government after the Parliamentary Election is over and the formation process and their constituent chosen.

Problem:

The possible problem arising through this governmental formation process is that most Member of Parliament Elect would want to give up their seat to become the prime minister or minister or state secretary.

Once they do that is when the “conflict of interest” begins in Parliament and Government, the Trias Politica system; this by the way is because the list system of proportional representation is good for choosing your Parliament but is absolutely unsuitable for choosing a Government, especially when you have it that Members of Parliament elect will choose on their own to become ministers.

To help resolve this problem and to make sure that you get a Parliament for four years and a Government for four years, I believe that it is high time that we elect Members of Parliament and also at the same time elect who you want as prime minister.

Only then will the people get closer to elect their Members of Parliament and choose who they want as prime minister regardless of the outcome of the election.

The prime minister and the Members of Parliament will be elected to govern for a period of four years uninterrupted, the composition of coalition government if problem occur might change, but not the government (your prime minister elect and Members of Parliament elect.)

So such electoral reform and or constitutional reform should look like this:

• Parliamentary Election and Prime Minister Election will go hand in hand, each voter would thus cast two votes, one for the prime minister and one for the Member of Parliament.
• After the election members of parliament Elect cannot choose to become Ministers, the people choice should be considered at all times.
• A vote of no confidence can be rendered to a minister through Parliament, but not to the Prime Minister which is elected by the people.
• The prime minister elect will not cast a vote of no confidence to Parliament because he also was elected by the people for a term of four years.
• Parliament and Prime Minister must sit in office for a four-year term.
• No parties can appoint Ministers that were not on the party list.
• Any candidate on the list of any political party can choose to be elected as prime minister and at the same time prime minister, because the outcome is up to the voters.
• There shall be no obligation of any Parliament member to play party politics; every member can vote their conscience without being ousted by their party leader or reprimanded or threatened by their party members or leader. This way true democracy can prevail.

So that is why I am appealing to the people of this country, please let us demand that they do it right this time, we too should have a say in the direction in which this young democracy should sail.

One can add to or disagree with my proposal but one thing is for sure, we cannot continue this way! Voice your opinion.

Bienvenido Richardson

Dear Editor,

Parliamentarians deserve vacations just like the rest of us, which is the reason Parliament goes on recess during the month of July. However, it is expected that in the month of August parliamentarians would resume their normal duties. This year, being an election year, parliament seemingly took the liberty to unofficially extend its recess by three additional months: August, September and October.

The month of August was for postulation and campaigning. In September, parliamentarians interrupted their campaigning to attend the closing and opening of the parliamentary year. Now, in October, parliamentarians apparently need to rest because meetings have been cancelled due to the lack of a quorum.

One would have expected that all MPs would show up to work, especially after the elections, and that parliament would have been buzzing with meetings to ensure that the people’s business is taken care of prior to the swearing in of the new parliament on October 31.

But parliamentarians don’t seem to think along those lines. It is a pity that, last week, two parliament meetings had to be cancelled due to the lack of a quorum. What a shame, because the majority of these same parliamentarians were out campaigning, just a few weeks earlier, telling the people what they intend to do for them when they get re-elected.

Yet many of these same parliamentarians do not have the sense of responsibility to show up to meetings. This type of behaviour does not show respect for the people who elected them. Parliamentarians should at least have the courtesy to notify the President of Parliament ahead of time of their absence. The president should not have to be waiting and wondering if sufficient members will turn up for the meeting.

Unfortunately, discussion in Parliament on several crucial laws had to be postponed due to a lack of quorum. For example, the handling of the Timeshare ordinance, the appointment of the acting ombudsman and the amendment to the Civil Code to regulate the short-term contract could not be discussed due to a no-show of the majority of our parliamentarians.

Now mind you, during the campaign every political party and parliamentarian/politician promised to deal with the abuse of the six-month contract. But yet after the elections they are not willing to attend a parliamentary meeting to deal with this matter once and for all.

On another note, prior to the elections there were parliamentarians who called for the Minister of Justice to come to parliament to give an account of what transpired at the prison when one of the prisoners was killed by fellow inmates. Why are these MPs no longer insisting that the minister adheres to their request? Are we to conclude that MPs didn’t take their request seriously? Or was this just a campaign stunt?

In addition, several MPs also called for the Minister of Finance to appear in parliament to give more information on the Pearl of China project. Why haven’t these MPs insisted that the Minister appears in Parliament? Or was this also a campaign gimmick? Are our parliamentarians serious about the people’s business?

In the private sector this type of work ethic would never be tolerated. Four months in which hardly, if any work was done, but yet parliamentarians collected their salaries at the end of each month. The people elected these parliamentarians and I am sure that the people expect their business in parliament to be handled in an efficient and effective manner. Instead, parliamentarians take a four-month extended recess with pay, do not attend meetings and also do not follow up to ensure that the meetings, they themselves called, actually take place.

Come on parliamentarians, you have to do better than this! In Sint Maarten, chronic absenteeism should not be the order of the day. What example are you setting?

Wycliffe Smith

Leader of the SMCP

An Open Letter to the Incoming Cabinet

(Curaçao Chronicle)

As the global economy continues to become increasingly dependent on technology, the baseline requirements for jobs in that new economy will continue to evolve. As you assume the challenges of carrying out your mandate to oversee the critical task of maximizing educational outcomes for the students of Curaçao, it is important to consider that you now have in front of you the opportunity to transform your schools, teachers and students to prepare for the labour force of this rapidly changing world economy.

Transformative initiatives centred around technology integration will not only improve the lives of students but also directly support a broader national objective of expanding the economic development of this country.

The importance of your task cannot be understated. By enabling students to compete against their peers in the global labour market, you will position Curaçao to better compete internationally. Research suggests that integrating ICT throughout governmental services, especially in the classroom, contributes to the overall economic and social health of a nation by increasing competitiveness and preparing students for macro-level labour force shifts as the number of non-skilled jobs continues to decline.

Both in developed and developing countries, employment opportunities are rapidly shifting to jobs that require employees to have the education necessary to use specialized technologies in the workplace. This training is about more than instruction to use new tools and processes, but also fostering students’ cognitive skills to become constant learners to adapt as technology inevitably evolves.

In other words, learning technical skills alone is inadequate. Rather a well-prepared student must also have the skills to continuously adapt their technical knowledge – they must learn how to learn. Countries which pursue active programs of transforming their educational systems for the purpose of developing a workforce are better able to take advantage of changing social and economic realities and will fare better in the long run as these trends continue.

Technology in the classroom can no longer be considered as option nor can it be considered as something to add on to existing curricula. Instead, it is necessary to integrate technology training into every facet of your schools. Children must learn to solve problems not simply by using technology to automate old ways of doing things but rather to weave it into the fabric of the entire educational programme.

It is insufficient to make technology a discrete once-a-day class but rather it must be a part of every subject from math to language arts. You otherwise risk the “$1,000 pencil” problem in which you are simply tacking on modern technology to continue teaching from an old perspective.

As multinational companies continue operating with increasing impact to the local markets, it is important to have a qualified workforce to serve in new roles in those companies’ operations here. They will demand a baseline training standard in order to hire local candidates. Failing to find qualified locals may otherwise require them to import workers who have the requisite skills for this new information economy.

If you consider the country’s relative economic prosperity, as evidenced by a nominal per capita GDP of over ANG 64,000 which is 27th in the world, it would seem reasonable that the resources to carry out this transformation are available. And although monetary measures are useful in defining the affluence of a country, further consider that knowledge, information and training also prove valuable assets albeit less simple to measure. Take steps now to assure Curaçao remains knowledge-rich and not poor.

The digital divide, which defines the gap between the haves and the have-nots in relation to ICT services is growing worldwide. It is your responsibility to make certain that you fully leverage available resources to plot the nation’s course towards staying on the right side of that gap.

To carry out the vision to educate workers for a new workforce, there are a few guiding principles to consider. Teachers and administrators must be adequately trained to ensure programme success. Teacher competency in embracing new technologies is a crucial element to training others. The training must be more than cursory, teachers and educators must have mastery of not only the material they will teach but competency to challenge students beyond the stated curriculum when appropriate. In addition to qualifying them to teach students, educators using technology in their own jobs will be more effective overall.

English must be integrated fully into the classroom. The lingua franca of the technology industry is English. Technology developers in every corner of the globe use English almost exclusively when interacting with their colleagues. In the same way that the aviation industry has standardized on English to ensure pilots and flight controllers can universally communicate, the technology industry has done the same. This is not to diminish the cultural significance of the Papiamentu language or to deny the nuanced sensitivities surrounding the historical and socio-political remnants of colonialism.

Nonetheless, it is critical for success in preparing students for globally-focused careers with increasingly international employers.

The technology industry as a whole has done a poor job of building gender equity among its ranks, including in the US. Tech companies have recognized this and will continue taking steps for demanding a more inclusive workforce. This provides an outstanding opportunity for Curaçao to leapfrog many of its peers by demonstrating strong leadership when it comes to educating women for the high tech industry. However, employing the strategy of gender mainstreaming will be insufficient by itself. Rather, it is also necessary to embrace a fundamental transformation of existing educational processes to wholly embrace gender equality as a core value.

Unlike much of the world, Curaçao does not suffer the biggest risks to educating young women. The UN cites lack of financial resources, physical attack, non-consensual marriage, lack of family support and access to healthcare as leading reasons why 62 million girls around the world are not in school.

Curaçao has cultural attitudes which on the whole render most of those as inconsequential issues here. Therefore, it is imperative to exploit the lack of these educational impediments relative to other nations for the purposes of producing a more valuable workforce with a greater chance of being sought by high tech firms in the future.

Engage the private sector. Outcomes of these efforts will be enhanced the more private industry is involved in the process. Public-private partnerships may provide more and better access to educational opportunities for all students, especially children from lower-income families.

In addition, these partnerships contribute to the overall educational environment by providing learning opportunities which more closely mimic modern workplace environments. Creating opportunities for children to become accustomed to the culture of modern offices and interacting with people in the industry will improve results for Curaçao’s students.

Ministers, this is your opportunity to embrace the positive impacts of refining your educational system to include technology as a core element. The benefits to the country’s economic future and to the quality of life here can be significantly enhanced. However, failing to act quickly may very well diminish your chances to do so in the future. Your mission is critical to this country’s continued success.

By James Ogden, MS

Cabaviso Technology Advisors