Dear Editor,
Late 2015, I was diagnosed with a serious heart problem called Aortic Valve Stenosis. SZV SXM arranged for my heart operation to take place in Colombia. After getting this news, I realized how little I knew about Colombia and the little knowledge I had was rather negative.
In my mind it was a country ravaged by decades-long violent conflict and cartels, of drugs and kidnappings by different rebel groups. I did not know that Colombia was one of the top places for excellent medical care in Latin America and that the Colombian government had been successful in reversing its negative image as a trouble spot in South America.
Significant progress has been made, dramatically improving security, which is a crucial factor in attracting visitors from abroad. At the moment, negotiations between the Colombian government and the main rebel group, the FARC, are making significant progress. The FARC, (revolutionary armed forces of Colombia) was formed in 1964. Its aim was to overthrow the government and to install a Marxist regime. Through money from the drug trade, it became the largest and best equipped guerrilla force in Latin America.
Kidnappings became their favourite tool in their violent conflict and quest for power. No wonder there were recently jubilant celebrations in Colombia after the historic signing of a cease-fire agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC. The signing, of which took place in Cuba, ending five decades of warfare. People in Colombia were celebrating this long expected peace agreement by hugging and embracing each other, singing the national anthem and waiving the country's flag.
Colombia's president Santos hopes to sign the final peace accord in Colombia by the end of this month. “Adios a las armas,” (goodbye to the weapons.) The future will be politics without arms, which is fortunately the civilized way in which politics is practiced around the world and before long, including Colombia.
Colombia is the 3rd largest Spanish speaking country in the world, after Mexico and Spain and has substantial oil reserves. It is a major producer of coffee, gold, silver, platinum, coal and agricultural products. What I am most impressed about is the excellent medical care that patients are receiving there. Tourism is noticeably present and many foreigners are visiting this country, not only as tourists, but also for medical reasons, plastic surgery and dental care.
The combination of excellent medical treatment at affordable prices has proven to be a very attractive combination. I am thankful to God that I was privileged to have my heart operation in Colombia, which was successful. After a lengthy revalidation process I have regained my strength and health again. I must mention that at no time during my stay in Colombia, St. Maarten patients felt unsafe around the medical facilities and hotel.
There was a visible presence of police and army in and around the whole area. As I was wondering if the other St. Maarten patients and those from Aruba and Jamaica, shared my positive opinion of the country, its people and medical care, I had questionnaires made with specific questions concerning their experiences. The feedback I got was from a total of 12 questionnaires from patients from St. Maarten and 8 interviews with those from other countries. I remember that some time ago, St. Maarten's population consisted of 103 nationalities.
The results of my survey were interesting and reflected the opinion of our multi-cultural society. The feedback I got was mainly from patients with a real Caribbean background, as they were born in: Jamaica, St. Kitts, Haiti, Trinidad, Curaçao, Aruba, St. Maarten, the Philippines and the Netherlands. One of the questions was: Would you recommend Colombia to others who need medical treatment abroad? This was positively answered for 100 per cent. Question number 9 was as follows: If you had the choice in case you had to go for medical treatment abroad, which of the following countries would you choose to go to? Curaçao, Venezuela, USA, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Guadeloupe, the Netherlands or Other. 100 per cent of the answers resulted in: Colombia. Some other comments:
*I heard that there were good doctors in Colombia, but did not know they were that good.
*It is here, home away from home, because you are treated like family for they do more than their duty.
*We are well taken care of here; we are very pleased with the service. The people are so loving and kind.
*We could neither ask nor expect more.
*The medical facilities are modern and state of the art.
*Thanks SZV for making this possible for us.
From the general comments, I learned that 80per cent testified that besides all the benefits of receiving excellent medical care, faith and hope in God for a speedy recovery was very important. The whole system works very smoothly, from being picked up at the airport to making appointments with specialists and in getting clean and practical accommodation.
Although, knowledge of the Spanish language is an asset, it certainly is not a necessity. Insufficient knowledge of the Spanish language does not slow down the medical process, which in general is fast and efficient. There are translators available to assist the patients when visiting the specialists before and after the operation.
The apostle St. John wrote in his letter: "My dear friend, I pray that everything may go well with you and that you may be in good health." May a blessing rest on all those who are dedicated to realize this prayerful wish and to SZV, the medical establishment in general here on St. Maarten, who are committed to alleviate the suffering and negative impact of sickness and disease.
Colombia needs to be specifically mentioned as one of the leading countries in the world to have an admirable level of quality, modern health care, not only for their own citizens but also for those with serious health problems from beyond the borders of this great South American country.
Through my experiences, observations and personal contacts, I have come to the conclusion that Colombia's new country profile can be compared to the metamorphosis of a butterfly struggling to free itself from its cocoon, amazing all onlookers with the beauty of its wings.
Wilhelm Helmich Snijders
With more than 20 million people today trapped in human trafficking, also called modern slavery, it is a crime that happens almost everywhere and affects virtually everyone. Yet many still think of human trafficking as an issue affecting only other people, in other countries. The truth is it affects you; it affects us all. And it exists, throughout the region, including on the islands of Curaçao, Aruba, Sint Maarten, and in the United States.
Victims of human trafficking, whether of sex trafficking or forced labour, come from a variety of backgrounds, and their stories often begin with aspirations for a better life and a lack of options to fulfil them. Traffickers exploit this reality. In particular, people seeking employment opportunities – at home or abroad – face the risk of fraudulent and abusive recruitment that can lead to human trafficking.
The 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report, released by Secretary Kerry on June 30, highlights these risks and the actions governments, businesses, and consumers can take to combat human trafficking. Each of us can make a difference.
Governments – including the U.S. government – must continue to combat human trafficking in all its forms through strong law enforcement efforts and effective victim protection, as well as with policies to prevent trafficking.
For the first time, Sint Maarten has been highlighted as a Tier One country in the Secretary’s Trafficking in Persons report, meaning that the Government of Sint Maarten fully met the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking during the reporting period. In 2015, the government conducted one of the largest human trafficking investigations in Sint Maarten’s history, which led to the arrest of six suspects on charges of human trafficking; the rescue of 14 sex trafficking victims; and, following close cooperation with authorities in the Dominican Republic, identification of 35 additional victims previously employed by the brothel.
The government continued to implement a victim-centred approach for providing services to identified trafficking victims and increased efforts on awareness programmes to prevent human trafficking.
This is an extraordinary moment for the advocates, law enforcement officers, and government employees of Sint Maarten, who are working tirelessly every day to prosecute traffickers, protect victims, and prevent human trafficking. Their work and coordination has made this possible, and we applaud their efforts. But the work is far from over, and there is still much more to be done.
Individuals also have an important role to play in the fight against human trafficking. Report suspicious activity to law enforcement and educate yourselves about the signs of human trafficking. Be a conscientious and informed consumer. For more information on what you can do to help fight human trafficking, please visit the State Department’s website: http://www.state.gov/j/tip/id/help/.
U.S. Consul-General Margaret D. Hawthorne
Dear Editor,
I would appreciate it if you can place this letter in your newspaper, as I believe unreasonable and possibly incorrect behaviour of immigration officers occurred, which are ultimately paid by the people of St. Maarten, and should realize that with responsibility there also comes accountability towards the same community they are serving.
In short this is my recent experience:
My daughter who just graduated from a flight attendant school in Bogota, invited one of her friends to stay with us in St. Maarten for a 1 month holiday. My daughter gave her female friend, a single girl who just celebrated her 21st birthday and has never been outside of her native Colombia, our address in St. Maarten and made sure she had a valid credit card in her possession. Much to our surprise, when she arrived at the St. Maarten airport, the immigration officer would not let her in.
We knew this, as the girlfriend communicated to us directly in the arrival hall via her phone.
We then asked the security guards and the lady at the information booth to help us by contacting the immigration by phone. The security and information desk workers were always very polite and helpful contrary to the immigration officer who I eventually got on the phone: “we cannot give you any information Sir, you will have to check with the airline.”
Needless to say that the airline officials that I visited directly after, told me that there is absolutely nothing they can do in this matter. When contacting the immigration by phone again they now explained to me that the girlfriend did not have “sufficient funds” for legally entering St. Maarten. Obviously her credit card was not regarded as sufficient means of funds. Even when I informed her that I was in the Arrival hall, she was staying with me, I would be responsible for her and could sign any document for that order, she just simply said I needed to get a Guarantee letter in Philipsburg knowing that the offices were already closed.
After another hour of waiting and wasting more time the girlfriend then informed us via my daughters’ phone that they would accept a signed Guarantee letter. I prepared it fast as I live close to the airport, printed it and me and my wife signed it and my wife handed it over to the immigration officer who then said: Oh but it does not have an immigration stamp! This at Thursday evening around 7:00pm when all immigration offices are closed since 4:00pm and the next day being a holiday.
End of story, they sent my daughters girlfriend of 21 years, alone, back to Curaçao, a country unknown to her, without any flight possibility to leave back to Colombia earlier than Saturday! Well done immigration officer, you sure have earned your place as an example of friendliness in St. Maarten.
Paul Ideler
Dear Editor,
An informed and frustrated citizen wrote last week that we should cancel emancipation day because he/she learnt that we are allowing the Dutch secret police (Gestapo) to operate on the island without reporting to the minister of justice. The report further states that it is unclear who they are targeting in their investigations or from whom they might have obtained legal authority to use electronic wiretapping and eaves dropping to gather information. We cannot lose sight of the fact that we are an island of laws and not men, and anyone operating outside the laws of the land is simply an outlaw, whether they have the blessing of the Dutch master or not.
I have through the years seen cases thrown out because outside justice organizations were operating in the territories without authority. The contention that a minister has signed an agreement to this effect, and only now parliament has gotten air of it means quite simply someone has dropped the ball. To some in parliament, the jury is still out as to whether we are a colony or not. They cling to the old “Lynch” teaching of giving a slave a big name or a ceremonial position and you can rule them forever.
Nothing fits that teaching more than the pride we see in those being called Prime Minister and President of parliament. It is tantamount to the house slave, who was heard to exclaim to his owner when the plantation was set afire “Massa we house on fire”. And if we follow the many meetings we were honoured to witness with PM Rutte, we would see the sitting arrangement and who speaks. But again, we know how proud this makes us, we take special pride in being used to benefit the master.
The Dutch government has made so many derogatory statements about us over the years, but thought it quite normal to ask us to lobby countries in the Caribbean to get them on the Security Council. Their strategy works so well that our “Prime Minister” tried explaining to the press how great that would be for St. Maarten, even though they tried to destroy our investment climate and seriously injure the already slow economy.
All the constitutional experts, who are worth their salt, will tell you that nowhere on earth they know of a country with four Prime Ministers. And the continued belief that we are equal to self-governing politically emancipated countries is a step too far, especially your colonial master.
Our ancestors fought too hard for the freedoms we now enjoy. I am sure they thought that we would have picked up the mantle to remove the shackles from our minds, after all they succeeded in removing those from our arms and legs. I can assure you that emancipation day is more relevant today for our people, and foremost our young people who must know that nothing was given without struggle and bloodshed, and nothing comes without a price.
If you are truly convinced that things are definitely not the way it should be, your targets should be those fifteen freeloaders in parliament and the seven legislators of varying ilk they support. Our duty and obligation now is not to withdraw our drive to honour our ancestors, but to correct the many colonial spins of history. This is our country and we should not relinquish any authority that is rightfully ours to a foreign power five thousand miles across the Atlantic. It high time we stand our ground and not surrender a single grain of sand that belongs to us. Who knows, history might one day also celebrate our brave actions.
Elton Jones
Dear Editor,
Much is written by Dutch politicians about the state of politics in the islands. We seldom see our press dealing with similar problems in The Netherlands. I just came across a column in the Magazine of the Association of Dutch municipalities, which I translated for our readers in the islands to compare. The column is from January 23, 2015, and is written by André Krouwel, political scientist at Free University and scientific director of Kieskompas.
