By Alex Rosaria
Local politicians were mesmerized by Guangdong Zhenrong Energy (GZE), which was here to build a refinery without ever having built one. The Whiteman, Koeiman, Pisas 1, and Rhuggenaath administrations were impressed by the GZE’s charm offensive to help our most important companies, including Curaçao Ports Authority (CPA) and Curaçao Water and Power Company (Aqualectra).
Why wouldn’t they be elated? Additionally, GZE would create an entertainment strip à la Las Vegas, help out a local bank in trouble, and build many sports facilities, all while constructing a refinery, which, like I said, they have never done and had failed miserably trying to do in Myanmar.
GZE soon disappeared from the scene since it couldn’t produce the resources to back up its talk.
Yet some people here, including an ex-Minister President, still worship the ground GZE walks on. In one of his veneration rants about GZE, the politician said that Curaçao is missing out on getting Chinese expertise, money, and investment China is graciously giving the world in the frame of the Chinese Communist Party’s Belt and Road Infrastructure (BRI) projects.
The results of BRI have so far been less than gracious. In Angola, a vast social housing project by the Chinese is cracking, and there are complaints about moldy ceilings. In Pakistan, a Chinese-built hydroelectric plant had to be shut down last year after detecting cracks in a tunnel. Uganda’s power generation company said it has identified over 500 construction defects in a Chinese-built hydropower plant causing frequent breakdowns since its operation in 2019. And most recently, Ecuador - a small country, yet at the forefront of the communists’ push in the region, accessing more loans than any country except Venezuela and Brazil - has seen many big Chinese projects in the mining and energy sectors plagued with construction flaws.
Besides the mediocre quality of these Chinese constructions, many communities have been forced off their land in addition to huge environmental costs resulting in death and impoverishment. I have personally visited some of the affected areas left behind by the Chinese in Myanmar, Kazakhstan, and Laos.
China has become known for targetting poor countries with its debt traps. It lends money to other countries, which must cede control of key assets if they can’t repay their debt. Sri Lanka had to give up 70% of control of one of its ports to China which it now uses to, among others, dock spy ships, much to the chagrin of nearby India. It is unknown how widespread these practices are because China, unlike other major donors, does not publish records of its foreign loans, and most of its contracts contain non-disclosure clauses that prevent borrowers from revealing their contents.
Communist China, once a staunch believer in advancing the interests of developing countries in the Non-Alligned Movement, is now the new imperialism. In the past, China preached to the developing world to avoid subordination to Washington or Moscow. Now China is the one subjugating others. All around the world and unfortunately, in Curaçao, these communists are finding people willing to sell out their own countries to benefit the mother country, China.
Alex David Rosaria (53) is a freelance consultant active in Asia & Pacific. He is a former Member of Parliament, Minister of Economic Affairs, State Secretary of Finance and UN Implementation Officer in Africa and Central America. He’s from Curaçao and has an MBA from University of Iowa (USA).
Dear Editor,
Several of your readers want to know why I have slowed down with my writing. Simple. Contrary to the Carnival Committee, the Domincanos Organization and other organizations I try as much as possible not to be a distraction for those who “keep Lent”.
By now you might have realised that I have always been against taking the Bible out of the schools and government buildings. We see and read about the different events that took place during the Lenten season which started as usual on Ash Wednesday, this year on February 22. In the paper of April 3, 2023, on page 11, there is a report with accompanying picture of Palm Sunday Services held on St. Eustatius. The Roman Catholics, the Methodists and the Anglicans on St. Maarten also held a joint Palm Sunday march along Front Street and Back Street through Philipsburg. To my surprise, nothing was reported about that event. And I ask myself, why not?
Also in the same paper there were two different articles promoting Junior carnival events, and the C3 making sure that the SCDF have optimal radio communication during the carnival parades.
I have asked it in the past and will repeat it. Who is responsible for the recent spike in negative
behavior of our youth? I have also stated in the past that my father would emphasize that “children who play sports and go to Sunday school do not end up in jail.”
Just before closing this letter a lady called me and said to me, “The next time you write you have to tell the Editor that he must not print that the police are on a go-slow. He should write that they are on a go-slower.”
Now this: when banks and government are pressuring people to do online banking, what are they
actually doing to the community?Russell A. Simmons
Dear Editor,
Please allow me a section in your paper to stand up for progress, equality and prosperity!
The entrance of the PEP (Party for Progress, Equality and Prosperity) into the Island Council of Saba certainly is a sign of change with Mr. Hemmie Van Xanten.
The addition of change within the WIPM established party embodied by Ms. Elsa Peterson who ran a very professional and outstanding campaign is also a great and dynamic change for Saba, jewel most precious in the Caribbean Sea! She studied international law and human rights, a great asset and enrichment to the Saba Island Council! I admired the way in which Ms. Elsa Peterson gave a speech during her campaign of the historical facts of the pof the Netherlands in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the role that the Netherlands needs to play to redeem itself from this great evil and injustice towards people of African descent in the Dutch Kingdom!
The Dutch Government and Prime Minister Mark Rutte need to also pass laws to protect cultural diversity in the Netherlands and in the Dutch Kingdom. Respect towards race and culture, rich or poor, Black or White, Indian or Asian, Latino or Filipino, immigrant or not, foreign or native, we all are one people and we all deserve equal treatment!
Saba also needs to grow, tourism needs to be expanded! Enough of keeping Saba small and stagnant!
Island Council Member Ms. Elsa Peterson also was dynamic in stressing on the importance of leadership! “The leader is not only the one who manages a human group, but the one who knows how to lead it and straighten its crooked cells” (Dr. Jose Francisco Peña Gomez).
I encourage all the five Island Council Members of Saba and the two commissioners, Eviton Heyliger and Bruce Zagers, to please stand up for progress, equality and prosperity on small Saba like the PEP Party! I, on the other hand, will always be a commissioner of truth, justice, peace and righteousness!
I close in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that!”
Cristian Hassell Feliciano
Unexpectedly, the global financial markets are reeling from a series of shocks prompted by the US Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) collapse about two weeks ago. Worried that the SVB could be the first domino to fall, I urged the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten (CBCS), on 13 March 2023, on my social media account to say something. Inconceivably, CBCS has so far preferred to stay in its cocoon.
A few days ago, the Minister of Finance sent a letter to the CBCS for more information. It’s beyond me why a letter was sent, and why this was published instead of a face-to-face meeting with the CBCS. If the CBCS had reacted quickly, it could have controlled the narrative instead of a political actor.
I digress. My fear became a reality. SVB was the first domino to fall, followed by Signature Bank, and the First Republic Bank. Crédit Suisse (CS) was forced to accept US$ billions to stay afloat in Europe. Some, including me, fear it could be a repeat of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, which led to a sharp contraction of the world economy in 2009.
The clear indicator of unrest is a sharp decline in oil prices despite strong efforts from US Fed and the Swiss National Bank to calm the situation. Just two days before the fall of SVB, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price, one of the leading global oil benchmarks, was over US $80 per barrel. After the shocks caused by SVB and CS, the WTI price fell by nearly US $15 per barrel.
The critical question is whether the situation was now better or worse than in 2008, which led to a sharp contraction of the world economy in 2009. This time bank failures are happening on both sides of the Atlantic. Also, the combined size of SVB and CS is US $750 billion, more significant than Lehman Brothers’ US $620 billion. Will the Federal Reserve contain this possible meltdown with a change in its monetary policies? In that case, what are the consequences for our country?
There are two causes of bank failure – inadequate capital and inadequate liquidity. Inadequate capital arises from bad loans or bad investments as was the case with CS and Lehman Brothers (2008). Inadequate liquidity is caused by rapid withdrawals of deposits.
SVB belongs to the inadequate liquidity category. SVB had approximately $200 billion in deposits and was overexposed to interest rate risks. This bank was not cautious, but greedy, and the greed overruled sound banking practice. To be fair, there were specific problems at SVB and Credit Suisse before the meltdown, as banks tried to balance inflation with financial stability. According to the Social Science Research Network, 186 US banks are vulnerable to a rapid liquidity drain like the SVB.
How vulnerable is our financial network? Why is the CBCS allowing its silence on this critical issue to potentially become a political sideshow? I hope the people at the CBCS realize that the genie is out of the bottle and that they have to say something.
Alex D. Rosaria was Minister of Economic Affairs, State Secretary of Finance and Member of Parliament. He is currently a member of the US think tanks Global Americans and Caribbean Policy Concern, as well as a freelancer in Asia and the Pacific.
Dear Editor,
The entire population agreed with MP Christophe Emmanuel concerning the small numbers of the vehicle number plates for 2023.
These numbers are very invisible night times. This will make things harder for the police, especially as some people have their plate covered.
For the hit and run individuals the numbers need to be visible at all times.
Government must stop ordering these kind of number plates for safety.
Cuthbert Bannis
