Dear Editor,
Some weeks ago, I sat in church and listened to the pastor preaching. He spoke about the dysfunctional human desires to take, grab and have, which are all deeply rooted in human nature. The more I listened, the more I realized that what the pastor was saying was a depiction of the current events unfolding in the world. My mind raced to the current war between Russia and Ukraine, to power-hungry women and men in leadership positions, to the boys on the street corners who refused to work but want to have it all and therefore they target the Chinese shops, to the many shortcuts that have been taken “to grab” rather than to earn by hard-working means, and to the women who cheapen themselves for luxurious lifestyles and worldly possessions.
Later that afternoon, as I reflected on the sermon, I became more fascinated and decided to dig further. Through research, I found out that dysfunctional human desires refer to a variety of unproductive, harmful, or totally destructive desires that we experience as human beings. These desires can take numerous forms, from the urge to abuse power, to overeat or overspend to the compulsion to engage in addictive behaviours like alcohol or drug abuse. In addition, the root of these desires is often driven by a sense of emptiness or dissatisfaction within us. We may feel that something is missing from our lives, or that we are not living up to our full potential. In response, we may turn to these dysfunctional desires as a way to fill the void or distract ourselves from our problems.
It then dawned on me that these dysfunctional behaviours are like octopuses. They have many tentacles that have far-reaching effects. Personally, I have been a victim of dysfunctional human desires on the work floor, like many others. We have worked assiduously and made our contribution to the growth and development of organizations; however, it did not shelter us from the undermining, denigrating, lying, denying, assuming, blaming, discrediting, and gaslighting. On the contrary, one would have thought that educated people would “know better”, but apparently, that is not the case. I, like many others have come to realize that this happens in the workplace because some qualified individuals are only qualified on paper; they have absorbed and recalled to get good grades in colleges and universities, however, they lack the ability to think and solve problems, and they are emotional and vindictive.
Regrettably, these desires hardly provide the satisfaction people seek. Instead, they tend to exacerbate the problems, leading to negative consequences such as financial devastation, broken personal and professional relationships, and health problems.
To overcome dysfunctional desires, it is important to understand their underlying causes. This may involve soliciting professional help, developing healthier coping mechanisms, and taking steps to address any underlying emotional or psychological issues.
Ultimately, it is important to remember that we are all humans, and we all experience desires that are less than productive or healthy. By acknowledging and addressing these desires, we can begin to live more fulfilling and satisfying lives.
Natchie Swardes
Moniker used at author’s request.
Dear Editor,
Allow me the space in your paper to: voice my opinion, speak up for the ones who are being targeted, speak out for the ones who are being legally blackmailed and threatened by the system, speak for the ones that cannot speak for themselves, and to speak out for the rights of our people.
Please let me make my views clear. I am aware of the reason why one has to pay taxes. I am in agreement that we should all do our part and contribute towards the upkeep of our island, even if this comes in the form of paying taxes. My opinion regarding the method and amount is a story for a different article.
My parents make sure that my siblings and I face consequences for our actions and or lack of actions, thus I believe this is the correct way to go.
We all face challenges in life and some setbacks of some sort, especially during these difficult economic times with constantly raising prices and still recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Like our legal system, I do not believe in abuse no matter what form or shape. No matter who you are. I believe the representatives of the Tax Office on Statia are abusing their power and are busy victimizing persons.
It has been years since I have been assisting companies and individuals with filing taxes, thus I am aware and familiar with the system.
Let me explain reasons for believing this:
Over the last six to seven years, I have been accompanying individuals to the local tax office based on assessments they received. After querying this assessment, the information in the system was either incorrect or was not put into the system even though it was submitted to the office on time. This was proven by the receipts dated and stamped by the same office that sent the assessment. On one occasion the representatives indicated that there was a glitch in the system which threw all the payments of clients from in the system. Since we proved that from our end the information was filed and paid for on time, the lady asked us to give them two weeks to have this fixed. After two weeks the situation was corrected.
Currently, there are some companies/individuals that are the victim of what I call abuse of power by this office.
There is one company that has an arrangement with this office and is paying between 800 to 1,000 dollars every couple of weeks. Thus, there was and is willingness to pay. Yet the very equipment that this company uses to generate their funds was confiscated and auctioned off for approximately one quarter of the starting auction price. Now the business owner does not have his equipment and cannot generate funds to continue to pay what is owed. How does this office plan to collect the remaining funds when they crippled the business? What is the plan, to sell his home next? What is the motive and the goal of this office in doing this?
There is another company which has more than one piece of equipment for the sole purpose of executing the business. They have already sold half of the equipment and expect the same company to pay hefty amounts while their production was cut in half due to the lack of machines that were sold by this office. Again, what are the main goals in this situation? Income possibilities were cut by close to 50 percent due to lack of equipment and the payment amount remains very high. It does not take rocket science to know this is impossible.
There is another company that received an assessment and sent in an objection letter and due to the absence (vacation) of one member of staff, this was not processed. The office had the balls to indicate that the person was on vacation and still penalized the company.
Another company has been paying an amount indicated by the tax office for over four years. Their payments were deducted from the person’s salary by the employer as was requested by the office. After more than four years of paying hundreds of dollars per month to this office, the office threatened to sell the equipment of the company. The company went searching in their records and submitted copies of receipts stamped by the tax office for years that the business was being charged for a second time. After going through their system with the received receipts the amount that was owed according to the tax office dropped by almost 75%. The representative decided that she had to stop correcting the information in the system because it was time to auction the companies’ assets, after realizing that there were lots of errors/incorrect information in the tax office system which their auction was based on was not important. How realistic is this?
There are some individuals complaining and are in the process of losing assets that they own due to other family members battling with the tax office. Please note that I am not referring to spouses because they are allowed to take assets owned by their spouses. I am referring to siblings, parents and/or adult children. Which law allows this?
People in Statia are complaining about the unjust and unfair treatment by this office and are not being taken seriously.
Is it a coincidence that all these people currently facing these issues have the same political preference?
What is the goal of this office? If they continue this trend, will we be closing businesses?
What is the role and objective of this office?
What is the role of the Tax department in general?
Why are there so many errors being made in the administration of this office?
I would like to encourage the community of Statia to ask questions from these offices. It is not legal for offices to abuse their power nor to victimize clients.
Statia, demand of your representatives that they deal with these situations that are festering like wildfire in this office. Ask them to demand answers from this office as the role and goal of this office.
In closing I would like to thank the editor for the space to voice this concern in putting dents into our economy and for allowing me to bring this monster into the light.
A.S.
A concerned Statian
Name withheld at author’s request.
Dear Editor,
The two-day symposium held in Trinidad from April 17-18 is a necessary exercise for a particular racial-racial group (black) of a region that is commemorating its 530th anniversary in this year 2023 as a victim of Gun Violence and Crime from 1493-2023, at the same the racial-ethnic group (white) that is the perpetrator of the Gun Violence and Crime is presently engaged in wargames that will further perpetuate gun violence as public health issues resulting from their games. The time has come and we have the opportunity to address not only the symptoms but also the cause of the problems of gun violence and crime. The root cause stems from two main policies the “Doctrine of Discovery” and the “Slave Code Act”.
We are informed that the Vatican has recently repudiated the first, which is their “Doctrine of Discovery” of 1493 that gave the white racial group the false belief in God that they had permission to start the gun violence and crime in the Caribbean that has now since been affecting the world. That group is also having events to examine what is happening in their world of white superiority.
The second policy that needs to be addressed is the repudiation of the Slave Code Acts of 1661 that started in Barbados and affected the Caribbean region, setting a precedent of legal false justification of black inferiority before being adopted by the USA and subsequently impacting all ethnic groups of the wider world.
To adequately address both policies there is one particular action that needs to be taken that will bring both groups, white and non-white, to the consciousness that the world in which we live can be a better place. Such a proposal has been before the world since 1990 and before the government of Barbados and CARICOM in particular from 1995 for the tabling of a resolution to the United Nations (UN) that October 12 be designated a day for truth, justice, peace, healing, and reconciliation.
In 2013 the World Social Forum proclaimed the date October 12 as the International Day for Reparations, and in 2017 the CARICOM Reparations Commission proclaimed October 12 as Caribbean Holocaust Day. The resolution should now be from CARICOM to the UN for October 12 to be designated as the International Day for Reparations towards truth, justice, peace, healing, and reconciliation, and if we are serious about addressing gun violence and crime as a public health issue the resolution should be tabled to the UN before this October 2023.
Reverend Buddy Larrier
Dear Editor,
We, the Heads of government of the Caribbean Community CARICOM, meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on April 17-18, on the occasion of the Regional Symposium to address Crime and Violence as a public health issue, register our grave concern at the increase in the illegal exportation of guns from the United States of America which is a direct threat to our democracy.
We declare a War on Guns to combat the illegal trade which provides the weapons that contribute significantly to crime and violence in our region causing death, disabilities and compromising the safety of our citizens.
We call on the United States of America to join the Caribbean in our War on Guns and urgently adopt and take action to stop the illegal exportation of firearms and ammunition into the Caribbean.
We lament the disproportionate share of our national budgets that we are compelled to allocate to measures to address crime, violence and national security, as well as mental health and other health-related challenges, that directly result from the illegal exportation of guns to our region.
We underscore our commitment to utilize all human, financial and other resources to rid our region of the scourge of illicit weapons.
We reiterate that the Caribbean must be a Zone of Peace, which will allow us to achieve our goal of a secure, stable and prosperous community for all our citizens.
Heads of Government of CARICOM
Dear Editor,
My roof recently leaked and my wife placed a couple of old towels, which she saves for such an occasion, on the floor to soak up the water, lest one of us slips on the wet spot and falls. The roof had been fixed by several different contractors, but did not remain fixed for long.
My four-year-old tenant, let’s call her Faye, saw the towels on the floor and wanted to know “Who made a mess in the house?” She is very good at spotting and pointing out messes. We explained to her about the leak in the roof and the reason for the towels on the floor. Two days later, the inquisitive little girl pays us another visit for the sole purpose to see if the roof was still leaking.
There are two ceramic fishes hanging on the wall on the front porch, which the child has admired from the time she was a toddler. Unfortunately, one of them had recently fallen and its tail had broken off. As soon Faye saw it, she surprised me with: “Don’t worry, Papa, I will ask God to fix it for you”.
She proceeded to place the two pieces on a porch table, closed her eyes, folded her hands and said a short and to the point prayer: “Dear God, please fix Papa’s fish”. That was four days ago. The Lord has not yet fixed the broken fish. I guess HE concluded that lazy Papa can easily fix it himself with a little bit of super glue.
This incident reminded me of how my own daughter surprised me decades ago. One evening, shortly after her mother had put her to bed, she called me into her bedroom and told me she could not sleep because she had pain in her legs. She was at the time suffering from “growing pains”. I told her not to worry, I was going to ask Jesus to heal her. Her little face lit up. I rested my hand gently on her legs, and said a short healing prayer. When I finished, she smiled at me, stuck her thumb in her mouth, turned her back to me and promptly went to sleep. I am sure it was her faith in Jesus that healed her that night.
Since I am on the topic of God and children, let me relate how God saved this same daughter’s life several decades ago. We were picnicking under a grape tree at a beach on the French side of the island with a couple of good friends and their children. It was a beautiful day and all was going well. However, while chatting with my friends I clearly heard an inner voice ask me, “Where is Dale?
I looked around the tree and did not see her. She must be somewhere close by, I thought. So, I went a little further up the beach looking for her. I saw my son playing in the water with his friends, but no sight of Dale.
I continued looking and then my heart stopped. To my horror, I saw her floating face-down in the water. I ran to her as fast as I could. Even as I ran, I kept wondering how it was possible that no one saw a child in pampers floating in the water. There were people on the beach only a short distance away and my son and his friends were in the water a short distance away from her, and yet, no one saw her?
I ran as fast as I could to where she was in the water and grabbed her. As soon as I lifted her out of the water, she immediately started crying. When I heard her crying, I instantly started thanking God for His mercy and compassion. I was puzzled that she had not inhaled or swallowed any seawater, even though she was floating face-down. Weeks afterwards I realized that the inner voice had forewarned me before she had entered the water. I believe she had gone into the water to join her brother. Our friends who were still under the tree were even more upset than I over what had taken place.
Some people later suggested that it was the air in her diaper that had kept her afloat, but I knew better. Had the air in her diaper prevented her from inhaling swallowing seawater? I have thanked God countless times over the years. Though she was too young to remember the incident, I occasionally reminded her how God saved her life on the beach that day.
Jesus once forbade a demon-possessed man from whom He had cast out a legion of unclean spirits, to follow Him. He instead told the man, “Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how He has had compassion on you.”
I am sure there are a number of people on St. Maarten for whom God has done a great thing in their lives. I invite you to tell us what God has done for you recently or in the distant past. And if you need help putting your miracle into words, get in touch with me.
Clive Hodge
