Dear Editor,
Last Monday, the answer of Minister Plasterk on behalf of his colleague Minister Kamp directed to the General Assembly in the Netherlands was made public. He indicated in his answer that at this moment, the time and opportunity to explore geothermal energy is lacking. His leading argument seems to be that the installation would generate 100 MW while the direct need of Saba is limited to only 2 MW. The surplus should then be transported to St. Maarten through a cable that is not only very costly, but also would consume a lot of installation time. As an alternative therefore the use of solar energy and wind energy is promoted as being a short-term solution.
On first glimpse, this seems to be the logical conclusion from a well-thought out policy. The only problem with it is that it is totally false and on top of that: both ministers could have known this fact. Since the question and need arose during the Inter Parlementair Koninkrijk Overleg (IPKO), Notus, a 100 % Caribbean company, has supplied all delegations of the participating islands and the Netherlands with information about geothermal possibilities and technology.
We indicated that it could be an important economic stimulant for the islands within the Kingdom, and that it, besides being cheap energy, could provide an incentive for profiling, employment and knowledge level of the islands. We indicated that we can provide the technology, the capacity and the possibility to supply this geothermal energy at any desired scale. Besides a confirmation of receipt and the message that the information was distributed to the delegates, we unfortunately, did not receive any reaction.
Notus, in cooperation with Geostrom (a Swiss company), has developed a revolutionary one-bore hole technology that enables us to produce electricity making use of the earth's dynamics. Without making use of the controversial fracking techniques, it makes use of the internal heat of the earth in combination with thermal dynamic convection processes that are taking place as well.
Due to this enhanced geothermal technology, the system can be used anywhere. The system is 100 % renewable and risk-free. Besides the production of electricity the rest warmth can be used to be converted into cooling with the use of heat-exchanging technology, for which many suitable uses are available. Since the use of this technology is already economical at small production rates, the installation of a 2- or 3-MW energy plant would be very feasible. It would be low in cost and can be realized within a short time frame.
The provided conclusions of both Minister Plasterk as well as Minister Kamp are most likely based on offers received from the French consortium that is active in Guadeloupe. This company is operating an energy plant using "old fashioned" fracking-based geothermal technology. This technology is indeed only economical when generating a large output and also creates significant environmental problems and risk. The Notus/Geostrom system eliminates these risks and supplies stable electricity 24 hours a day, 365 days a year without any CO2 emission and impact on the environment.
The offered alternative of wind or solar energy is not able to provide a base load supply, since the production is limited by the availability of wind and sun (in the right quantities and strength). Since the availability is limited and also is fluctuating in the produced current frequency, a back-up system consisting of fossil fuel-based generators will be required at all times. In fact the dependency on fossil fuels will remain.
Hopefully this reaction will contribute to a review of the position and policy of the involved politicians in the Netherlands and on the islands and that it will open the eyes for the positive effects geothermal energy can contribute to the local communities. Notus will always be prepared to provide additional information or presentations.
Frits van de Sande
Curaçao
Dear Editor,
Last Monday, the answer of Minister Plasterk on behalf of his colleague Minister Kamp directed to the General Assembly in the Netherlands was made public. He indicated in his answer that at this moment, the time and opportunity to explore geothermal energy is lacking. His leading argument seems to be that the installation would generate 100 MW while the direct need of Saba is limited to only 2 MW. The surplus should then be transported to St. Maarten through a cable that is not only very costly, but also would consume a lot of installation time. As an alternative therefore the use of solar energy and wind energy is promoted as being a short-term solution.
On first glimpse, this seems to be the logical conclusion from a well-thought out policy. The only problem with it is that it is totally false and on top of that: both ministers could have known this fact. Since the question and need arose during the Inter Parlementair Koninkrijk Overleg (IPKO), Notus, a 100 % Caribbean company, has supplied all delegations of the participating islands and the Netherlands with information about geothermal possibilities and technology.
We indicated that it could be an important economic stimulant for the islands within the Kingdom, and that it, besides being cheap energy, could provide an incentive for profiling, employment and knowledge level of the islands. We indicated that we can provide the technology, the capacity and the possibility to supply this geothermal energy at any desired scale. Besides a confirmation of receipt and the message that the information was distributed to the delegates, we unfortunately, did not receive any reaction.
Notus, in cooperation with Geostrom (a Swiss company), has developed a revolutionary one-bore hole technology that enables us to produce electricity making use of the earth's dynamics. Without making use of the controversial fracking techniques, it makes use of the internal heat of the earth in combination with thermal dynamic convection processes that are taking place as well.
Due to this enhanced geothermal technology, the system can be used anywhere. The system is 100 % renewable and risk-free. Besides the production of electricity the rest warmth can be used to be converted into cooling with the use of heat-exchanging technology, for which many suitable uses are available. Since the use of this technology is already economical at small production rates, the installation of a 2- or 3-MW energy plant would be very feasible. It would be low in cost and can be realized within a short time frame.
The provided conclusions of both Minister Plasterk as well as Minister Kamp are most likely based on offers received from the French consortium that is active in Guadeloupe. This company is operating an energy plant using "old fashioned" fracking-based geothermal technology. This technology is indeed only economical when generating a large output and also creates significant environmental problems and risk. The Notus/Geostrom system eliminates these risks and supplies stable electricity 24 hours a day, 365 days a year without any CO2 emission and impact on the environment.
The offered alternative of wind or solar energy is not able to provide a base load supply, since the production is limited by the availability of wind and sun (in the right quantities and strength). Since the availability is limited and also is fluctuating in the produced current frequency, a back-up system consisting of fossil fuel-based generators will be required at all times. In fact the dependency on fossil fuels will remain.
Hopefully this reaction will contribute to a review of the position and policy of the involved politicians in the Netherlands and on the islands and that it will open the eyes for the positive effects geothermal energy can contribute to the local communities. Notus will always be prepared to provide additional information or presentations.
Frits van de Sande
Curaçao
Dear Editor,
Thank you for Monday's article that St. Maarten now has a Nissan Leaf on its roads and giving this news front-page coverage, complete with photo. The Rosens are to be commended. You may be also interested to hear that, as with many things, Anguilla has beaten St. Maarten to it – the Masons have owned and driven a Leaf around Anguilla for a while now, even without front-page coverage in The Daily Herald.
Another instance of where "Anguilla has beaten St. Maarten" predates even most readers of the The Herald.
I am reliably informed that what is now called St. Maarten, used to be part of a much larger island called Anguillea or "Greater Anguilla" (whereas Anguilla appears never to have been called part of "Greater St. Maarten/Martin"). Publications of studies of a giant (bear-size) rodent (Amblyrhiza inundata) which lived round here refer to "Greater Anguilla" for example.
When referring to political groupings, the word you seem to be looking for is "factions", not "fractions". You manage to get this right when you are inserting copy from outside news wires, but in local coverage you inexplicably seem to prefer the word with an "r". To be clear on this, a fraction involves a numerator and a denominator, such as ⅗. Whereas, according to the Oxford Dictionary, a faction is a "small organized dissenting group within a larger one, especially in politics".
Finally, I seem to recall that in Mr. Snow's previous newspaper ("The Chronicle"?) there was a memorable weather report and I wonder if it could be repeated in The Daily Herald at some point. It went something like: "As the weatherman is off-island, there will be no weather today". (This was subsequently published in the now-defunct humorous Punch magazine in the UK.)
Keep up the good work!
Graham Crabtree
Greater Anguilla
Dear Editor,
Thank you for Monday's article that St. Maarten now has a Nissan Leaf on its roads and giving this news front-page coverage, complete with photo. The Rosens are to be commended. You may be also interested to hear that, as with many things, Anguilla has beaten St. Maarten to it – the Masons have owned and driven a Leaf around Anguilla for a while now, even without front-page coverage in The Daily Herald.
Another instance of where "Anguilla has beaten St. Maarten" predates even most readers of the The Herald.
I am reliably informed that what is now called St. Maarten, used to be part of a much larger island called Anguillea or "Greater Anguilla" (whereas Anguilla appears never to have been called part of "Greater St. Maarten/Martin"). Publications of studies of a giant (bear-size) rodent (Amblyrhiza inundata) which lived round here refer to "Greater Anguilla" for example.
When referring to political groupings, the word you seem to be looking for is "factions", not "fractions". You manage to get this right when you are inserting copy from outside news wires, but in local coverage you inexplicably seem to prefer the word with an "r". To be clear on this, a fraction involves a numerator and a denominator, such as ⅗. Whereas, according to the Oxford Dictionary, a faction is a "small organized dissenting group within a larger one, especially in politics".
Finally, I seem to recall that in Mr. Snow's previous newspaper ("The Chronicle"?) there was a memorable weather report and I wonder if it could be repeated in The Daily Herald at some point. It went something like: "As the weatherman is off-island, there will be no weather today". (This was subsequently published in the now-defunct humorous Punch magazine in the UK.)
Keep up the good work!
Graham Crabtree
Greater Anguilla
Dear Editor,
I have lived on St. Maarten since October 1963; that is, for the past 51 years. Needless to say I have been through lots and lots of elections. The very first time I voted was on St. Maarten. It was also here that I had my very first lesson about the way politics works.
When I first came to St. Maarten, there were still dirt roads in the heart of Philipsburg leading from Front to Back Street. One such dirt road, just a few steps from where I lived with my parents, suddenly and unexpectedly got paved. It was actually converted into a street. This was after I had been on the island for more than three years. "Wow, I said, the government here has finally done something concrete." Then I was told by a fellow civil servant, "Hodge, you are new here. This is an election year; it will be another four years before you see another road paved." He told me this with a big smile on his face. That was my first lesson about the way politics worked on the island.
I remember when candidates on the DP list did not dare ask people to vote for them; they were obligated – or so it seemed – to campaign for the leader of the party, who, though he was a nice man (I had always admired him), must have been a dictator of some sort.
I also remember at least one or two election years, when there were no elections on St. Maarten, simply because there was not a single opposition party. I had never heard of that happening on any of the other islands of the then Netherlands Antilles. Yes, St. Maarten was and still is unique in many ways.
There must have been corruption in those early days, but no one dared to talk about it, much less expose it. But then, shortly after an election, my suspicions were confirmed when I read in a Curaçao newspaper that a political party on St. Maarten had spent more than a million guilders on fridges, stoves, washing machines and airline tickets for students abroad.
All that was required of the voter was a brief note, signed by a certain politician. I often wondered if the Indian merchant(s) and travel agency ever received full payment for their merchandise/tickets. The article did not mention whether the large amount of money had come out of the politician's pocket or the people's pocket.
Over the decades I have seen lots of politicians come and go. Some, however, came and stayed, election after election. They have become permanent fixtures in the Administration Building.
This buying of votes is obviously done by every party in government, yes, even the party you and I have voted for. They have forever been buying votes; however, they now not only buy votes, but political opponents as well.
This practice will probably go on forever. They know that they need not be afraid of persecution; they have learned from their fellow politicians – those who got caught – that the Prosecutor's Office will take from four years to forever to take action when it comes to wrongdoing by a politician.
"Dismiss the case, boys; put it on the back burner and let it remain there until the people have forgotten." (Okay, my imagination is getting the best of me.)
I have to admit that I lost confidence in politicians decades ago and I have on two or three occasions in the past declined to cast a vote in spite of the many politicians who try to convince you of how "important" your vote is.
A week before this last election, I asked an acquaintance: Have you received your voting card yet? "No, I haven't, but I don't care, because I'm not going to vote anyway." Why not? (After they get in there) "They are going to do whatever they want anyhow." Her down-to-earth answer caught me off-guard. I have never heard a more logical reason for not voting.
Another advice I recently received was: Clive, if you don't like those who are in there, vote for the one you dislike/mistrust the least. That also sounded like good advice, but not good enough to persuade someone, who has lost all confidence in politicians, to vote.
I did vote this time around, because I actually had a slight hope that at last a real change was coming. However, I am again disappointed with the outcome. Why? A three-party coalition government with just one seat more than the opposition could not be more vulnerable and unstable. The temptation to jump the ship even before there is a ship can prove to be altogether overpowering.
Any politician or political party that can spend three million dollars of its own money on a campaign can very easily buy out a political opponent, and for a great deal less. The first attempt has already been made. It's just a matter of time!
Clive Hodge
