Dear Editor,
Within short, before the end of next year and surely not before elections, there will be import taxes to be paid. This is part of the tax reform that the Dutch require, among other proposed changes, ie. drop in income tax. To what degree this is meant to stimulate the local economy is left to be seen. Of course, there are predictions, which include or exclude the effects of the French (northern) side.
The tax system – a public and collective community service, entangled in economic development, investment, employment, informal economy, amongst other factors are all intertwined within the public sector, businesses and the political within and related to the global (capitalistic) system – is quite the complicated structure that faces obstacles, avoidances, evasions, challenges, and ultimately: interest.
Society is regulated by taxes. No one sector or factor should influence the equilibrium of the tax system where the interest of the few supersedes the collective. If so, imbalance and chaos will ensue. The other sectors suffer. So, the more we adhere to a fair, balanced, ethical, moral, equal, mutually dependent, inclusive, compliant, sustainable, effective and efficient tax system, the better for all of us.
While we try to aim towards these idea(l)s of a fair tax system, there must be the realization of being able to pay for the many public services we enjoy or don’t get to enjoy. No doubt, there is a link to the parity and accountability of the tax system. They are intimately related. Taxes need to be paid by everyone fairly and squarely so that the community in general are provided a decent life by the government providing pubic goods: education, health care, pension, social services, infrastructure – roads, cleaning up, the police, fire, and ambulance departments, hurricane damage, etc.
Though costs are associated with these public services, they are only supplementary and not sufficient. Once this happens, public services are cut, and the public feels it in many ways.
The difference in what it takes to run the country vs what the government collects in taxes, there should not be a large discrepancy.
Between the two extremes of the private jets and mega-yachts, there are the sins to pay for. By only with the governments’ not playing matchmaker, the country moves forward.
This is no accident.
Pedro de Weever
Dear Editor,
Last weekend, a few teachers from some public schools informed me that they were paid 1 percent Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). I was told that some civil servants were remunerated as well. Some teachers from subsidized schools such as Milton Peters, Sundial, Charlotte Brookson, St. Maarten Academy, Seventh Day Adventist, Mac and St. Dominic told me that they did not receive COLA. This feels like discrimination.
Many of the persons I spoke to were incensed and angry. Furthermore, I was also told funds were not sent to school boards to pay the COLA. Many teachers at public schools have also told me that the government still owes them vacation allowance. This mistreatment and different approach to teachers must stop. I thought that all teachers are supposed to be equal? Is there a difference?
By the way, the extra day off is not enough. Teachers should go to school on January 8 2024. All over the Caribbean, this is the case. Even in Dutch islands such as St. Eustatius teachers are slated to return on January 8, 2024.
What message is being sent to teachers at subsidized schools? Are you saying we are nobody or nothing? If you cannot pay all teachers, do not pay none.
Kenneth Cook
Dear Editor,
If a small island state has a single-pillar economy and there is a low likelihood of other pillars being added, the future planning for that island should be relatively easy.
Recently on social media an election candidate decried the fact that a new upmarket hotel was to be built because it would be resulting in St. Maarteners doing menial jobs like cooks, room attendants and service personnel in the future.
It is easy to share his ambition that it would be desirable if more advanced, interesting and higher-paid employment opportunities were to be available to St. Maarteners.
Is it realistic to hope that the SXM economy can significantly diversify into areas that include substantial numbers of higher-paid jobs?
Or is it more realistic to fear future scenarios where there has been no significant diversification and besides St. Maarteners having to do hotel jobs, the hotel industry is operating in outdated infrastructure due to investors having moved to more investment-friendly jurisdictions? Will the single-pillar economy have become a lesser economy due to much higher travel costs and our island having become a less attractive concrete jungle that will have lost the ability to compete with a host of more attractive environments?
The recent history of St. Maarten shows numerous “ideas” on diversification but little or no real contribution by diversified activities to the GDP [gross domestic product – Ed.].
Should incoming governments increase our commitment and improve our attention to the one-pillar tourist economy or should they gamble on future diversification that has not yet shown evidence of being executable?
The route chosen will make a substantial difference to the circumstances of our children .
Robbie Ferron
Dear Editor,
I simply cannot understand why people keep allowing themselves to be used and fooled by people who continue to enrich themselves but do not help them.
I saw a quote from a post I was reading and I think immediately on the electorate of St. Maarten. It was like it was tailor-made for the people living in St. Maarten.
Here is the quote: “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”
Whether it’s a family, military, or country, leadership is responsible for the direction of the organization and the actions of the group.
When you have weak leaders, corrupt leaders, and leaders that have values that God disapproves of, you know a hard time is here and will continue.
Do not be a fool, a person’s lifestyle and character are about 80 percent of leadership. You can be educated, but if you are weak and cannot stand for what is right, you already fail.
It is very hypocritical that many political parties say a prayer before they start their public meeting when in their party you have people of a lifestyle God disapproves of.
We have atheists, homosexuals and LGBTQ in many parties who are talking about equality for all.
We should be concerned about teaching our children good values, respecting people and being good citizens to set the right example for others.
God made a man to be a man, not a woman, and a woman to be a woman, not to be a man. When we are afraid to teach people the truth it proves we are weak people.
Weak people vote for people who will oppress them because they deceive themselves in a false equality, which is in reality evil.
Worse yet, 90 percent of the churches are good for nothing, their concern is how can we make the world love us more instead of showing the world how God made us to live.
Education does not stop crime and murder, but education can make you a better criminal and a murderer and also a better lawyer, it is the choices you use your education for.
The human nature is corrupt and has a problem only God can fix.
That problem is sin. When you elect people who are proud of a lifestyle that God forbid, you are welcoming evil to establish in the highest levels of government.
When they get into power they will promote and enforce that lifestyle in the country they lead. We get the government we deserve.
First, we overlook evil, then we permit evil, then we legalize evil, then we celebrate evil, and then we persecute those who still call it evil.
Conclusion: The reprobate mind is in the highest level of government, that is what we have done and will continue to do. Using our right to vote to our demise.
We are going to feel it.
The patriot Miguel Arrindell
~ And a small but significant step towards self-reliance for St. Maarten ~
Dear Editor,
I developed a twofold project, which I want to propose to the incoming government. The first part entails a cleaning and beautification project for both sides of the island, which I believe will expose covered lands and provide a clean and beautiful environment for all to enjoy and maintain. This project requires collaboration between the governments of the Dutch and French sides of the island.
The project entails removing and recycling all heavy equipment, vehicles, steel materials, zinc, boulders, and piles of dirt. A joint venture of the two governments will see the entire island rid of all wrecks and debris from public roads, business places, private residences, and properties, free of charge. All residents will be required to cooperate with the project. All rubber, plastic, wood, and other ocean-non-environmentally-friendly materials are removed and disposed of at the relevant dump sites.
Funding for the Dutch side of this project can be requested from the National Recovery Program Project, St. Maarten, under the Emergency Debris Management Project.
The heavy equipment such as discarded cranes, back-hoes and such, will be sunk under the sea and welded together, and used to create an artificial reef, which is anchored to the mainland and will rise above the sea level and create a perfect environment for corals to grow on, and for sea life to form around it. And above the sea level birds can rest and nest on the exterior of the reef. Coral reef organisms grow well on steel structures, although some are concerned that iron and other limiting nutrients will favor algal or bacterial growth. Purposefully-sunk wrecks do require environmental and safety preparations before being deployed.
Providing that proper environmental preparation is completed first, these structures can give incredible biodiversity in otherwise barren seascapes. An ideal artificial reef is stable in ordinary to large storms, made from long-lasting, solid, non-toxic materials, designed to have a high surface complexity for the recruitment of corals, sponges, and other organisms, designed to provide a high amount of structural complexity for fish and other animals, and designed to either blend in with the natural reef or to stand out and convey a message (sculptures and other art creations).
The construction of the artificial reef is the creation of food sources for sea-life, and by extension, for humans. The interior of the artificial reef will be filled up with the rest of the debris, boulders, and piles of dirt, which will create land for the second phase of this project, which is the establishment of a fishery. The chosen location for the creation of the artificial reef is Back Bay, in Point Blanche. There is an existing road leading to the discarded basketball court that leads to the ocean. The construction of the fishery will not impede on zoning laws, as noise pollution from the fishery is not an issue.
“All around the world, cities are edging further into the sea.” Source: www.bbc.com. “As one of the most densely populated nations, the low-lying Netherlands has long been driven to reclaim large swatches of its coastal swamps and marshes to house its ever-growing population.”
St. Maarten will implement an eco-friendly method of debris disposal and land reclamation. The World Bank policies on vigorous safeguard instruments developed to mitigate all foreseeable social and environmental risks will be implemented in this project.
The second phase of this project is designed to be an eco-friendly economic development project owned by the government of St. Maarten. By owning and operating the fishery, the government and the people will be the direct beneficiaries. The benefits are a viable, sustainable seafood source, direct income for the government, a small step towards self-reliance, and the commencement of a self-sustained St. Maarten.
It is not uncommon for governments to own businesses. The government owns the harbor, the airport, and the utility company. Aside from ownership of its harbor, airport, and utility company, the government of Aruba owns and operates the Archaeological Museum of Aruba, the Bon Bini Festival, and the Renaissance Island, and the government of Curaçao owns its harbor, airport, the oil refinery, the utility company, the Grot van Hato, and the Sint Christoffel Park. The benefit of direct ownership is added because of the direct income for the government (income from sales and taxes). The core values of this project are sealife creation, and maintenance, sustainable economic development, quality, and price control (think of a calamity, or such).
By owning the fishery, the government has full control of pricing and distribution. The fishery will help generate funds for some of the government’s development projects. The construction of the fishery provides a viable and sustainable income, work opportunities, year-round production of plastic-free seafood, self-reliance, self-sustainability, and community empowerment. Included in the concept is a public fishing ground and recreational area.
The abundant seawater makes aquaponics seafood farming viable and affordable in St. Maarten. Funding for the construction of the fishery can be requested from the United Nations Office for Project Services, Department of Nutrition: Scaling Up Nutrition, amongst others. The vision for the project is to provide St. Maarten and the neighboring islands with a viable and sustainable source of aqua-cultured-farmed, fresh, plastic-free seafood. The mission is to provide year-round, high-quality seafood at reasonable prices.
Tropic Seafood is a similar company based in Nassau, Bahamas. The company farms and sells whole spiny lobsters, lobster tails, stone crab claws, Bahamian conch, and Lane Red Snapper: Av. 1.5 lb./2 lb. ready for the market in one year. They also farm and sell Lane Red Snapper fingerlings (baby Red Snappers). In a statement, Tropic Seafood wrote, “Due to the small market size in the Bahamas, the goal is to sell most fish overseas as a fresh product to destinations such as the United States, Canada, Latin America, and Europe.”
Product summary
The fishery to be established in St. Maarten will farm Shrimp, Red Snapper, and Red Tilapia for wholesale to the local and neighboring markets. Shrimp and Red Snapper are well known and enjoyed by the locals and visitors to the island and are in high demand. Red Tilapia resembles the Red Snapper and produces high-quality meat at a lesser cost.
Competition
The fishery will be the first of its kind in the western Caribbean. The island of Nassau, Bahamas, in the eastern Caribbean has the Tropic Seafood factory, a large-scale land-based fish farm, and an ocean-based conch farm. This is the only large-scale commercial seafood production farm in the Caribbean. There is no other direct competition for the foreseeable future. Numerous islands in the Caribbean, including Trinidad and Tobago, practice freshwater fish farming.
Operational plan
The company will produce Shrimp, Red Snapper, and Red Tilapia for wholesale. The plan is to supply the local market first.
Outlook
Considering that the fishery will offer fresh and healthy seafood products of high quality year-round, the market is expected to embrace this new business concept.
Conclusion
The fishery is a new seafood farm and sale approach that is sustainable, healthy, fresh, and sumptuous. The income from this project alone will not eliminate the financial situation of the country. It will, however, be a small step towards national development and contribute to new income for the government. This new income will provide the opportunity for the government to have sustainable funds for its projects, and to have a new avenue for income versus only taxation.
When making plans for the prosperity of a nation, the first rule is to provide income for expenses. The clean-up campaign, construction of the artificial reef, and construction and opening of the fishery can be documented and placed on YouTube to spotlight the island. All episodes include interviews with government officials, partners, and stakeholders.
It is the intention to propose the project to the government. The project developer donates the project concept and the Draft Business Plan to the government of St. Maarten. The government hires the project developer for the development of the project.
When the new government takes office, I will request a meeting with the Council of Ministers to make a PowerPoint presentation and present a Draft Business Plan, detailing all aspects of this project. A step towards self-reliance, self-sustainability, and financial independence is a step toward a solid and secure tomorrow. We don’t have to be self-sufficient in everything. Just in something(s) worthwhile!
Louis Engel
Project Developer
