Dear Editor,

  I first visited St. Maarten in 1985, solely because when my then girlfriend and I wanted to get away somewhere, that was the place that was most often listed in the local (Albany NY) paper’s travel company ads, as well as at most of the local travel agencies. For several more years that was the focus of Caribbean travel destinations, along with Aruba and Mexico.

 Today, and for the last dozen or more years, there is no mention of St. Maarten as a destination in any ad I look at. That includes the local newspaper as well as the occasional website I visit while looking for other travel destinations. If not specifically mentioned in a web search, St. Maarten just doesn't produce a hit. It also doesn't appear in the store windows of any travel agency in the area malls. I don't go in those stores anymore, but do window shop.

  It is appalling that the island doesn't attempt to attract attention to itself. If it weren't Jeff Berger's long-time SXM Newsletter publication I would never ever hear about the island. How the people running the island can go on with their proverbial heads in the sand puzzles me. Being an “educated island” was one of the selling points for serious travellers back when I bought my timeshare in St. Maarten, but that status seems to have changed as evidenced in the lack of direction by those in power down there.

  Don't they see that they have to invest in their product by promoting it and that they can't rely on continuing business from past visitors forever? Even as the existing client base fades, the island has to reach out to new targets to continually introduce themselves to those seeking a Caribbean destination. This they are not doing.

  I fear for the future of the island, as Cuba is definitely going to become the next great Caribbean spot as soon as it can manage to build agreements with the American hospitality industry and our government signs-off on letting Americans travel freely to that basically “undiscovered” island. If the people entrusted with St. Maarten’s future don't realize that then they aren't as smart as they need to be.

  They have shown some progress in alleviating the congestion on the island’s limited roads. They are beginning to combat the growing problems with crime, drugs and shootings with an expanded police force. Theo and company managed to make huge improvements to the port and the downtown area. These things will need to continue to expand, and they will also cost more and without the tourism dollar to support them, this will all fail.

  I so hope that the island politics are not going the way of the Turks & Caicos. I have followed the growth and failure of Providenciale for 20 years, and seen how the corruption of the government there has made it impossible for the native population to survive without working two to three jobs. The influx of investment in huge condo projects was sapped by the costs associated with dealing with the government. The last time I visited there five to six years ago, the number of empty units in the huge towers that now dot Grace Bay were a testament to the massive failure there due to corruption.

  If the government of St. Maarten is headed that way then I fear that what we see now will never get any better. The island needs to ensure that the revenues it collects are expended properly and in the right places, such as advertising, in order to ensure continued growth and success. If not, it likely will slowly sink back to being a second-class destination and suffer the consequences.

Jim Giner

Voorheesville, NY

Dear Editor,

  What happened to the truth shall set you free? What happened to transparency? Fact is we have electrical outages. So let us deal with the situation.

  I do not give three hoots what is the cause. I cannot do anything about that because I am not the operator. So my comments about whether the generators are old, young or good looking will not give us current.  What in my opinion is necessary is the truth. The people did not sign a contract with GEBE Facebook, and it should not be taken for granted that everyone will be depending on Facebook to know what is happening.

  For that matter no government entity should depend on the social media for disbursing any kind of official news to the public. During election time we know all kinds of ways to let the people know why to vote for our parties, use those same means also to let the people know about such an important thing as power outages in their districts.

  Did we not learn anything from 1995 (Luis)? I am sure it showed that we are a resilient people. Tell us the truth so that we can be prepared. By doing this you will be on your way to showing us what we can depend on September 26 going forward, but the people have to be informed and prepared how to deal with it together with GEBE. 

  I do not believe that power outages are a policy of our government.  It is said that delivery time for generators or parts is nine weeks. Let us calculate three months until restored. If a load shedding schedule for the districts is set up and made known, would that not be relief to the public, because they know.  For instance one hour off, six hours on per district.  Then we could know what to do with perishable foods.

  By the way, I believe the Health Inspectorate should visit some of those supermarkets and inspect the cold storage. We know what can happen with refrigerated defrosted chicken and meat etc.  

  Another thought is maybe one whole day off and the rest of the week on per district, during those three months or long periods of time with compulsory power outages. One might be thinking that I believe that I am an expert on load shedding. My answer to that is: we have had so many years with constant emergency power outages that by now we should be the experts on plans for load shedding. This kind of outage plan A, that kind of outage plan B etc. 

  I understand that “positivity should not give priority to negativity”, but our emergency power outages should justify the exception to this rule. If we know that this problem will not be solved for the next three months and load shedding is going to continue take to place, let us schedule it in a way that the people who already pay so much for their utility bills, and since the installing of those new water meters are paying even more, know ahead of time when there will be outages in their districts so that we all could be prepared.

  The hurricane season should also be a factor to motivate those in charge to alleviate that load. We need to know. There could be information letters in the GEBE bills, which never stop coming.  

  Now this – As a consequence of a discussion among the employees in a botica I was asked how can a Christian political party justify the separation of church and state. The reason for that discussion was how would the Christian party deal with legalization of same sex marriage and all that comes with it if that Christian party becomes the leading party in government? How could that party justify what would seem to be hypocritical?

  I assume that the leaders of any Christian party would have prepared themselves for this kind of reaction, so I also am looking forward to explanations. “The people want to know everything”

Russell A. Simmons

Dear Editor,

  For more than twenty years, I have been blessed with the opportunity to be able to take to the airwaves of St. Maarten, and the freedom to highlight issues as they affected the various strata of our society. These issues have been consistently delivered and debated by and among my audiences.

  The mentally agile noticed and questioned the morphing of my shows from “Taking Charge” (1994) to “Sharing The Vision” (1999) to “It’s About Time” (present). That transformation was not accidental, but reflected the changes on the ground, on St. Maarten /St. Martin, North and South, Dutch and French. As they say, our hurricanes do not stop at the border.

  During this time, I have aired growing local dissatisfaction with the direction of our island, in real time. This was done, however, as various unconnected events. The concatenation of the economical, the social, the political, the spiritual and so forth form a clear path back to the root. This dissatisfaction when taken from its root to its natural conclusion flows like the thousands of little streams that become a mighty river. A mighty river of discontent!

  Government attempts to dam this river with promises, but these promises quickly become broken promises. The unintentional consequence of broken promises is that they water the manure called enduring political betrayal. This may be right or this may be wrong, but impressions are tough to erase. Sometimes, our government finds itself in this position simply by the unintended circumstances surrounding an idea that sounded good.

  A few years ago, some folks slipped the words that the policies of Claude Wathey and his party more resembled those of Ronald Reagan of the USA. They took it to the natural conclusion by declaring that we were a laissez-faire economy, similar to what Reagan dreamed of for the USA. While this sounds good to the Reagan-likers amongst us, it could not have been further from the truth or reality. Mr. Wathey was more in line with Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lynden Baines Johnson and, yes, William Jefferson Clinton.

  Most St. Maartener’s look at the new analysis of Claude, shake their heads and say “That is not how we remember Claude Wathey at all,” and they are right. His legacy has been hijacked.

  “All economics is political,” screamed a Wall Street Journal headline and proceeded to clarify that statement by stating that “a survey of 131 economist by Anthony Randazzo and Jonathan Haidt found that their answers to moral questions predicted their answers to empirical ones.”

  Our walk to a laissez-faire economy continued, undebated and barely mentioned internally but, most importantly, the population was never notified or prepared for this impactful change. Today’s economic indicators are telling us that we are seeing the erosion of our traditional middle class. the export of the lower-middle class and the poor keep on getting poorer. Yes, you may argue, this truly resembles the end of the Reagan era and yes, another USA administration had to pick up the pieces. Here, we trek on.

  In laissez-faire economies the needs of the sick, the poor, and the handicapped are not a priority of the government. As a matter of fact, the state, ipso facto, continually encourages the social erosion by cutting taxes, one of the key levers to finance social improvements and social services. This, my friends, also includes education.

  We see our teachers forced to moonlight as casino dealers. We see our engineers forced to drive taxis. We see our entrepreneurs become chamber maids and gardeners.

  This can be a temporary situation, but the class that enjoys the temporary benefits of a laissez-faire will seek to distance itself from the “new” and “old poor” by locking the poverty exit door and demand the removal of all social safety nets, i.e. social security, funds for education and minimum wage. These tools of the “gentler” face of traditional capitalism are removed, and the brutal and unkind laissez-faire hammer is unleashed.

  For sure, St. Maarten/St. Martin has a laissez-faire economy. It rides, shotgun style, on the back of our Keynesian and Indigenous economies and sucks its profits and assets therefrom.

  While the supporters of “laissez-fair-ism” celebrate their fruits of its “greed is good” and “how much is enough” qualities, the practitioners of true Keynesian economics and “indigenous economics” are left to pick up the pieces and clean up the mess that was left in the wake of the new development path.

  Yes, we the tax payers are left to support a great central bank, but this bank does not even recognize or support our traditional banking system, our eternal ethereal Partner Hand (Susu).

  As St. Maarteners, we usually try to solve our problems not by looking within, but by importing a solution. An imported solution typically marginalizes the indigenous population and enriches the new faces that embody the “New Solution”.

  Because the “New Solution” is always new, and is always invited in, its practitioners can demand a more favourable “level” playing field and act as another downward blow to the existing middle and upper classes. This blow, when coupled by lack of class mobility, permanently locks the nouveau poor into the poverty class. This class consists, increasingly, of indigenous St. Maarteners and yes, regardless of race, whites and blacks alike are affected.

  As we begin to drift towards our next election, our future depends on us asking for a clear distinction between our political parties and the offers they are proposing from within those parties. Then we, the people, will judge. Are your bold claims today the product of your life’s work or is it the product of a recent conversion? Have you walked through your proposed policies or are you just a seat-filler for something you simply do not understand?

  Come on guys and gals, let’s stand for something and have a political talk about

that with the voters. Let’s talk.

Gregory J. Arrindell

Independent Information Service Professional and Consultant at Grego Tours/Grego Production, Roving Ambassador for a New York-based Caribbean focused Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and host of radio talk show “It’s About Time”

Dear Editor,

  The abduction and murder of Wendy Montulet last Saturday, has compelled me to write you with the hope that some of this information may help someone on this island that I love and have called home for the past 25 years.

  I have trained with members of the US military and US police including S.W.A.T and would like to share a few simple principles.

  The human brain is the most powerful weapon on earth. Knowledge is the key. You can train for years in self-defence techniques and martial arts, but if you are surprised by a determined bad guy all the punching and kicking may not help you....the best way to win a fight is not to get into one. It’s all about knowledge....once you have it, it can't be taken away.

Here are some things to know:

  1. Be aware of your surroundings at all times. Many runners and walkers are oblivious to what is happening around them because of ear buds or headphones. The human sensory system has developed over millions of years for survival. If you can't hear and listen to what is going on around you then you can't be aware, and you increase the chances of someone or something surprising you. This goes for hearing non-human threats as well like cars and dogs. Not being able to hear what is going on around you drastically cuts down on your reaction time, which includes running away or effectively fighting off a threat. This is especially true from behind and night time where you don't see and need to rely on your hearing. If you must have your music then use only one ear bud allowing you to hear some surrounding sounds...but no ear phones is best. Beware of walking and texting as well. If your focus in on your phone then it’s not on your surroundings and you will not be able to react in time.

  2. Safety circle – Your safety zone is the length of your body in a circle around you. Your job is to maintain that circle. This allows you time to react to a threat. Either fight or flight. If someone breaks that circle then you move back, front or side to maintain it. A common way for a bad guy to get into your circle is by distraction...such as asking for the time, directions or assistance... “Hi I lost my dog...can you help me?” while moving in close to you...if that happens then get loud! Call attention to yourself; make big gestures with your hands. "Hey back up! Help! You're scaring me!" Listen to your vibe...if someone or something is making the hair on the back of your neck stand up. (making you nervous) don't ignore that feeling...its millions of years of survival instinct kicking in. No one needs to be in your circle for you to give them the time or directions.

  I teach people to carry a Fox 40 whistle, super loud and works wet or dry. Scream…yell… get loud...blow the whistle...keep your circle... The good people that will come to your aid will always outnumber the bad guys meaning to do you harm. Remember...bad guys don't always look like bad guys and most are cowards who will back down or flee when others come to help the person calling attention to them. Also, be the person who is not afraid to come to the aid of someone in distress...get involved...we all have children, wives, mothers, sisters, fathers, brothers and friends...do what you would want someone to do for them if they needed help.

  3. Programme your phone. In your favourites list or speed dial should be the following headings: Police – If you are being threatened call that number and leave the line open while you deal with the threat...speak either directly or indirectly to the officer who answers and let them know: A. Your name; B. Your location; C. What is happening...leave the line open.. Make sure this is on your speed dial. If you are under stress you don't want to be fumbling with your phone to remember and dial a number....

  I.C.E. – this stands for In Case of Emergency. This is the number of the person you want contacted by a first responder if you are incapacitated. First responders are trained to look for this number on a victim’s phone.

  Turn on you “Find my phone” or phone locator app, or carry a GPS tracker or buy a GPS sports watch. Help the people looking for you find you.

  If something positive can come from such a heart-breaking senseless tragedy, maybe it can be the knowledge of these three simple things to keep more of us safe in the future. Please say a prayer to whatever higher power you believe in for Wendy, her family and friends.

Mark Sollinger