Dear Editor,
Imagine two local St. Martin grandmothers sitting at the St Martin’s home for the elderly. They have worked hard and are enjoying the last days of their lives. They bore many children, who in turn bore grandchildren, who are also today bearing their great-grandchildren. So much has changed since they were thrown into life in the 1920s; one in Simpson Bay and the other in Middle Region. Today, they are called local St. Martiners, to distinguish them from the many other ethnic groups that reside on the island. Back then they were just St. Martiners. Others were from St. Kitts, Statia, Saba, Dominica, Anguilla, etc. In their youth there were no hotels; no cars; no telephone; no electricity. In our terms, their St. Martin was simple.
The stuff romantics write about. They are, however, not nostalgic. For the most part they are content with all the modern conveniences. Their children can reach them at a dial of a button; no matter where they are located on God’s earth. What’s more, they are happy because the “Wrong” that characterized sweet St. Martin is no more. They never speak about the “Wrong”. It is better for the getting along that they “forget” how to speak about the “Wrong”, knowing that they cannot really ever fully forget it in heart or mind. It seems to be working, as all locals including their grandchildren get along regardless of their ancestral stock. The inequalities, in terms of who has more “pocket change” and buildings and land, are still there but there is communion that shines through the differences of complexions. The Prime Minister is a black man; the head of the opposition is beige, but he has children and his wife who are brown. The former Prime Minister has the colour of his children. This is St. Martin today; not perfect, but getting better.
These days, however, with all this TV, CNN, NBC and BET, and what have you – that they all watch and hear about on the radio – the “Wrong” seems to be growing stronger in the USA. They understand that Black Lives Matter, because justice matters for all, but It terrifies them (and they lament that one thing that has not changed is that it is primarily those with an overdose of testosterone who also imbibe the idea of racial superiority and inferiority that continue to spoil the world). They are afraid for their children and grandchildren.
You see, whilst growing up in what is referred to as Sweet St. Martin, the racial “thang” was considered normal – you could derogatively call dark brown St. Martiners “nigga” without twitching; but, things weren’t always black and white. When the blood of men journeyed to the middle section of their bodies, which happened regularly, the colour barrier was breached when no one was looking and the moon and the bushes kept secrets. Those who had a chocolate grandmother, but carried the pinkish complexion of their fathers’ people, did their utmost to distance themselves from the brown working poor. It is this, which has created today, the situation that when you scratch a little deeper than the surface you find out that all local St. Martiners are related in one way or the other.
So too are the two old grandmothers. They stare at the photos of their grandsons; one the colour of straw with hair that resembles National Geographic renditions of the Sahara desert; the other Mahogany with a head full of tiny corkscrew curls that judges of the Guinness Book of Records will find impossible to count. What will become of them? Will they fight like Cain and Abel, like the White and Black Americans, or will they create a language of critical understanding to right the “Wrong”?
Time will tell, but they are hopefully reading in the newspapers that the University of St. Martin is organizing a town hall meeting on July19, where their children and grandchildren are invited to speak about Alton Sterling and connect this to Mitchell Henriquez, Terrance Briscoe, Norbert Mestenapeo, or the many unnamed slain men and women in India, Palestine, Kenya and other parts of the world without hate. Without undoing the fragile peace and getting along that they have been able to build up. They hope you will accept the invitation to discuss Black Lives Matter, St. Martin style.
Dr. Francio Guadeloupe, President of the University of St. Martin (USM)
Dr. Natasha Gittens, Director of SCELL-USM
Ms. Wendie Brown, Division Head of the Business Management Programs, USM
Mr. Josue Ferrol, Coordinator of the pre-USM program, USM
Mr. Pedro de Weever, Editor of the Commentaries Journal, USM
Dear Editor,
A young man approached me and asked me if he could tell me something. I answered “always” and he said: “I know that several of all you who does write in the papers does make sense , but I want to be the first to get credit for this. I have proof that birds of a feather does flock together and the UP and the NA have to watch out because the flock can get bigger if three more join the gaggle.”
Dear Editor,
The current issues being experienced with GEBE’s much criticized load-shedding are because the company is now a rudderless ship. Government needs to step in and tackle these issues head on in the interest of the populace.
Electricity consumers on Dutch St. Maarten have been blighted with power outages over the past few days, which are reportedly part of scheduled load-shedding to accommodate repair of equipment. Persons have experienced as much as three outages in a given day and the local population has been very outspoken in their criticism of GEBE as a result.
There is still no appointed head of GEBE so it’s not surprising that no one has come forward with an explanation or a solution from that company regarding the outages that are inconveniencing the island. Government needs to stop playing politics with something so vital to the day to day business of the island and appoint a captain to steer this ship on the correct path. GEBE has been without a chief executive officer for months because none has been appointed to this date. How do you expect a ship without a captain to navigate smoothly, especially if the seas are not always calm?
The employees of GEBE must be commended for keeping the company afloat and operational by carrying out their day to day duties despite government’s delay in appointing a CEO.
Government must step in and solve these issues affecting GEBE because they negatively impact the productivity of businesses and people’s personal lives. They are the only body authorized to make these changes and they need to start taking this job seriously. We give credit to GEBE for their program that provides some sort of relief to our seniors, but there have been too many complaints through the years about company policies – e.g., their continued refusal to compensate persons and businesses for equipment which becomes damaged from constant power outages – and they need to be resolved.
I call on the current administration to stop playing politics with the issue. GEBE needs a new CEO in place to deal with the issues plaguing them. That CEO must be the person who is best for the job based on their experience and merit and not someone appointed as a political reward or personal favour.
Leonard Priest,
Leader One St. Maarten People Party (OSPP)
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,
A young man approached me and asked me if he could tell me something. I answered “always” and he said: “I know that several of all you who does write in the papers does make sense , but I want to be the first to get credit for this. I have proof that birds of a feather does flock together and the UP and the NA have to watch out because the flock can get bigger if three more join the gaggle.”
It did not register right away because I was not in a political frame of mind. I was preoccupied in restraining myself from really writing what I wanted to write in connection with the constant power outages of G.E.B.E. But he used the word gaggle and a light went on. A gaggle of geese, birds of passage, only three more needed to join, “what you mean the US party?” He said: “Yes but we going to use the same letters and call them ‘United Ship-jumpers,’ and we going make ‘Follow the leader’ the theme song.”
I do not write people’s opinion but as a calypso writer this was authentic calypso material and coming from a young Sint Maartener, it would not sit well with me to let this go to waste. I was still contemplating whether to write or not to write when the final push came as he called me this afternoon and told me: “What Theo doing, he’n going to get any secrets about the new hospital, she is Truthfull.”
Not to be outdone by that young fellow, permit me to add a little flavour to it. 5000 strong can’t be wrong is left to be seen ‘cause it only takes a little injection and the orange will turn back green. By the way is it permitted for a party to register as Ship-jumpers Unanimous and say that is US?
Russell A. Simmons
