Dear Editor,
Freedom of expression and freedom of association are two constitutionally guaranteed rights that should always be protected. One of the above deals with the right of the citizen to gather peacefully and express their thoughts and feelings of events and issues in the larger community be they political, social or economical.
The other has to do with your right to speak out on the existent or perceived ills in our society, especially the right of the press to unabashedly keep the public informed with the most truthful and verifiable information. A word often used by my deceased grandfather was incorrigible and back in my pre-teens the word meant the same to me as the man on the moon for none of the two appealed to my playful mind.
But advance that some fifty plus years and it all comes back to me now. Campaign 2016 has kicked off with the usual meet and greets and canvassing. This in itself is nothing new as we have seen this scenario play out so often over the many campaigns and most recently 2014. So the question would be what makes this a reportable affair.
Since 10-10-10 and before there have been rumblings of vote buying and the influx of bad money into the campaigns. Plural is used to indicate that none of the parties were or are exempt from this phenomenon. The picture changed somewhat after election 10-10-10 as the justice department felt they could prove the roomers playing in society and bring the perpetrators to court.
This of course does not occur without the country taking a beating regionally and internationally led by information spread by the Dutch propaganda machine declaring us all corrupt and Mafioso. Many people were investigated and some had their day in court. Some of these cases are yet incomplete because our judiciary believes its proper business to put people’s lives on hold until they find it necessary to follow up on the cases.
These we have seen with the Buncamper case the Labega case and the case of the VKS and police officers and the UP party among others. Intelligent and well-meaning people would try to keep themselves as far as possible from any appearance of this illegal activity. Reasonable and law abiding politicians would make it a definite “faux pas.” As word has it today our politicians are carrying on as usual and the vote buying and promises of favours have started again.
It would seem from word reaching the writer that deals are also being cut on the land Government supposedly acquired for affordable housing which is today being peddled to supporters and foundations set up by members of Government. By all appearances we like to be in the press for all the wrong reasons; we take pleasure in bringing the country down for purely selfish reasons.
As stated the citizen has a right to disagree with the politician, Government or the judiciary with a degree of respect. However, when any action or activity has been proven to be contrary to the laws of the land al efforts should be made to avoid these. People who do not or would not learn from previous missteps by others or themselves are simply incorrigible. And those who believe they are above the law when seeking public office are simply despots and outlaws.
Elton Jones
Dear Editor,
We have noted with interest that there is now twice the number of political parties registered on island and that ten parties will contest the September 26 election. This is a first in the history of St. Maarten and the leaders of these parties must be commended for wanting to help shape the future of their island. It shows democracy at work.
It also shows that the people of St. Maarten have taken stock and find themselves disenchanted and dissatisfied with the leadership they have been receiving and are sufficiently concerned to want to see a change, and who can blame them? Over the past several years St. Maarten’s ship has been captained by basically the same people and these captains have chattered us into some dangerous waters leaving us very anxious about the future of our island and particularly the future of our children.
We cannot sit back and allow the lack of integrity, the class justice and the blatant greed that has prevailed to continue. It cannot be business as usual – the rich getting richer and the poor becoming poorer with the middle class practically disappearing.
The entry of these new parties into the race is the clearest indictor, to me at least, that the people have asked themselves the hard questions:
“How has my standard of living improved under the current leadership? Are we better or worse off? Can I continue to allow friendship or family ties to dictate that I make an x for a candidate that has openly demonstrated a lack of integrity which allows him/her to put personal profit before country? Can I vote for a person who while doing his or her job I obtained a bus or taxi permit or some other Government permit and must feel committed to him or her? Can I support a party that has caused or benefited from the ship jumpers?”
The fact that today there are ten parties contesting the elections, including the One St. Maarten People Party tells us the answer to the questions.
I have read the report of Transparency International as it concerns integrity or rather the lack thereof in Government and am particularly concerned because despite a lot of lip service being paid there have been no concrete steps taken to remedy the situation. This tells me that our current Government officials are more than happy to maintain the status quo, but we the people of St. Maarten believe it’s time for a change.
We all want to have a steady stable Government in place looking after the best interest of the island and a Government that is not riddled with questionable behaviour, questionable and in some cases suspicious decisions and most of all a Government that does not allow the outside world to label us a banana republic. So we welcome the new parties to the fray and wish them much success.
Lenny Priest, Leader
One St. Maarten People Party (OSPP)
Dear Editor,
This is unbelievable! The mismanagement of GEBE goes beyond party politics. It is affecting us all; the average citizen whose appliances are being damaged, businesses that are being hurt in an already damaged economy, residents that are planning their daily household chores, and even GEBE’s own employees are all affected by the mismanagement from the top.
Not so long ago the current Council of Ministers wanted 30 million guilders from GEBE to balance their budget, which by the way now already has accumulated a huge deficit in the first two quarters of the year. They furthermore told the previous Supervisory Board to take loans for the purchase of new generators, and not to use the money that GEBE has on their account. When the previous Supervisory Board refused to play political games, they were removed. Musical chairs is being played with the CEO, CFO and COO positions ever since.
On social media there was a post that was funny, but sad at the same time. It read: “MP Lake put the new GEBE board in place; his back-to-basics approach is in full effect. We’re back to candlelight!”
While lots of things were running well under the UP-led government, the reality is that this coalition is messing up everything good. We now have a large number of power outages; we’re experiencing major issues with garbage collection and management of the dump, while a new fantasy island is being planned in the middle of our lagoon for a sewage plant.
Enough is enough! My people deserve better! We can no longer continue like this. We need to put our people first by creating an environment where businesses can flourish and where the quality of life for everyone increases.
As a Member of Parliament I will work together with all stakeholders to get St. Maarten out of this darkness and remain committed to finding sound solutions for the problems GEBE is facing.
Franklin Meyers
Member of Parliament/Fraction Leader UP
Dear Editor,
I congratulate the employees of the Maho Resort, with the favourable outcome of their court injunction against Maho resort and the Board of the WICSU/PSU.
After being informed by a group of employees on June 12, of the pressing situation they were confronted with by both their employer Maho Resort and WICSU/PSU, together with a labour professional, I met with the employees and informed them of their rights as workers and how they should proceed legally.
In addition, through the chairlady of parliament, I formally questioned Minister Emile Lee of VSA on the role of the Labour Department. As reported and confirmed by the management of Maho resorts, both the Labour Mediator, R. Boasman and WICSU/PSU president Solagnier vetted and approved this process of termination.
The decision of the courts in favour of the employees is a clear indication that they were not well represented by their union. The Pelican saga is still fresh on the minds of the people. As a consequence as legislators, employee representatives and Government, all stakeholders should ensure that the rights of the working men and women in this country are safeguarded.
I look forward to the outcome of the developments pertaining to those employees who have signed to terminate their employment with Resort of the World to commence with a new operating company, some of which indicated they did so under duress.
However, I do hope that the management of the Maho group together with the employees can reach to a favourable agreement that benefits all parties. This to ensure that St. Maarten can continue to provide a quality tourism experience for our visitors! As a member of parliament, I have been consistent and true when it came to the rights of the people, regardless to being in opposition or part of a coalition.
Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel
Dear Editor,
The other day I decided that I had to discover my island further, because it is worth to be discovered. So, I went on an expedition and planned to take a walkabout at the trail passing Back Bay from Pointe Blanche.
The area was a total surprise for three reasons. First, it was wild! It was nature! The atmosphere was great, relaxed, truly removed from the fumes of cars in traffic jams and crowded life on the island. I immediately fell in love with the area. An area to protect for generations to come. It also should be great for tourists on cruise ships, who after a week might be fed up with buffets and the crowdedness, and need some space, some beautiful views and maybe a little swim in one of the natural pools.
It took me a while to find the trail though, so that was also a tiny surprise. Especially because one had to pass a dirt road, and I mean dirt in the sense of dirty. One constantly thinks: am I going the right way?
At one point in St. Maarten’s recent history there seems to have been a garbage dump here. In the bushes there are still lots of car parts, concrete pieces, broken tiles, scattered glass and rusted up stuff all over. It is good most of the garbage has been taken away, but the mess on the edges is still there and it seems that people still use it as a dumping ground.
My surprise increased like a big bubble gum, when I walked on and saw large amounts of car parts on a seaside cliff. Rubber tyres, motor blocks, metal, wires, plastics, a big part of a truck and that is just what was visible. What is there beneath the surface of the water? A bit of iron is not that bad maybe, but tyres, that slowly break down in little pieces that via fish find its way into our food, is just plain bad. Let alone all of the other parts with chemical plasticisers.
On the first rocky beach of Back Bay, the area is also covered with washed-up car parts and washed-up tyres. Bushes are covered in plastic bottles and other plastic, and look like a bad, fake Christmas trees.
No sea cucumber, but black rubber hoses. No conches, we try so very hard to protect from export, but plastic car mirrors. No sharks in this part of the shark reservation, but big grey plastic bumpers. No sand dollars, but plastic pieces of all sorts. So apparently stuff slides down the cliff and ends up on the beach.
One wonders what is still beneath the surface of the water, but having a look is risky, while during a swim a truck seat might fall on your head! I don’t even want to go into the question, which dirt bag dumped the stuff there. Pin him on a Pope’s Head Cactus and let him sit for a while. I do wonder why this has not been cleaned as of yet. On the cliff, on the beach and on the bottom of our beautiful Caribbean waters.
Maybe it is already being arranged and this letter is unnecessary, but Government, EPIC (Environmental Protection of the Caribbean), community, scuba divers come together. You want to do a clean-up! Here is one for you. It is a biggie!
Turn in the iron and maybe there is even money to be made! Of course it is going to take some heavy equipment, a lot of hands and also remnants of two small structures have to be broken away, but this island can do it.
The walk itself has to be cleaned too, and some small safety fencing has to be put in place. Then you will have without a doubt one of the most beautiful hikes on this island.
Simpson Soualiga
