Dear Editor,
On social media I note many St. Maarteners searching for understanding of the political and administrative shortcomings that are being displayed in the first 12 years of our status as a country. Many are considering conspiracies in which St. Maarten people have very poor views of their fellow countrymen. Moral and mental shortcomings are extensively considered, heavy accusations are levelled and a degree of polarization appears to be developing.
But should one really be surprised that in spite of the institutions that are in existence with significant budgets. comprehensive legislation and many qualified persons there are shortcomings and breakdowns that make the bigger political picture look bleak. Is there really reason for such despondency and breakdown in trust of the fellow citizens that are involved with the failures?
The history of public administration shows that countries with effective and consistent administration usually have long-established civil service establishments where norms are strongly ingrained. Those cadres of civil service in some cases are in existence for hundreds of years. Many colonies that became independent had civil services with many years of experience and consolidation. Consider this about St. Maarten:
1. The size of St. Maarten and the relative isolation it had experienced historically meant that “village norms and relationships” play a large role in the community.
2. The majority of administration and all legislation had taken place in Curaçao prior to country transition.
3. The territory experienced rapid growth in the 20 years preceding transition to country, a period with relatively “wild” economic conditions and a general belief in limited control.
4. During the rapid growth period the territory did not enjoy a commensurate growth in prosecution services and the expectations of being prosecuted in many areas was not high as is indicated by the adventurous schemes that have recently been exposed.
Clearly the chances of public administration and political management instantaneously achieving a high level of stability and productivity in the short term was never high.
It has also become clear that the creation of the comprehensive range of institutions fully equipped with all the physical and legislative attributes for stable government do not function without the participants having taken on the spirit of their design.
This turbulent period will end when effective leadership focusses on where the breakdowns have occurred, corrects them and reduces the political polarization of the country.
In due course the turbulence of the first years of country will have been forgotten, but the inevitability of this turbulence should not be allowed to limit future success.
Robbie Ferron
Curaçao mourns the death of dolphin Mosa. The bottlenose dolphin is one of five dolphins that were transferred from Curaçao to Saudi Arabia in June after much commotion. There, at the Fakieh Aquarium in Jeddah, she swam against the edge of the basin at high speed.
Mosa died from a large amount of blood in her lungs. Transferring the dolphins to Jeddah was very much against Animal Rights' wishes. "Keeping such large and intelligent animals in small basins is a horrific form of abuse," campaign coordinator Anna Krijger said. “It is known that dolphins consciously or unconsciously self-mutilate or take their own life under these circumstances. Moreover, the suggestion that the animal was so bothered by her hormones that she wanted to harm herself is completely out of the blue.”
The latter statement comes from spokesman Elior Boeldak of the Curaçao Sea Aquarium Park, which sold Mosa and four other dolphins to the Fakieh Aquarium. “It is quite common for female dolphins to die between the ages of 6 and 10 when they start to ovulate, when they are adults and can make babies,” he told radio station Dolfijn.fm. “We also experienced that here, with other dolphins. It's sad, but things like that happen to animals.”
Boeldak pointed out that Animal Rights cannot know anything about Mosa's cause of death, because the organisation had not seen the autopsy report. Animal Rights filed a lawsuit over the sale of the five dolphins. The judge ruled in June that the animals could only leave the island if the permits were in order and that was the case. The substantive hearing of the case is scheduled for September 7. Krijger: "It is too late for Mosa now, but for the remaining four dolphins in Jeddah and all other dolphins that are kept in captivity for entertainment worldwide, this matter is vital.”
The decision of Curaçao Sea Aquarium to reduce the number of dolphins is partly due to the poor financial situation of the park as a result of the corona pandemic. The dolphin population had also become too large, according to the organisation. Therefore, three female and two male dolphins between the ages of 5 and 10 were sold.
Animal Rights opposed the transfer because the conditions in the 'concrete aquarium' in Jeddah would be worse than in Curaçao. According to the organization, the animals live in a swimming pool with chlorinated water in the new shelter and sandstorms from the surrounding desert are causing nuisance.
Jeroen Schmale
Dear Editor,
Bring in category 2 of GEBE where the updated bill meter readings reflect paid bills before the hack. I have emailed GEBE and visited customer service with no avail. It’s like either talking to someone with no grasp of the situation or perhaps someone with a strong intent to disregard the real issue and just go for the illegal collection.
There are many on the island who might have GEBE bills paid until February 2022 (before the hack) and if they have a last paid meter reading, say 3050 but are presently receiving bills from meter reading 2475. I have been to GEBE 6 times for corrections but to no avail. I paid my bill with clarifications and under “threat” of disconnection, but my payment ended up being reflected from meter reading 2475. So, I, like many, basically have to leave my work and go every day to GEBE and spend a few hours and still not get any resolution.
GEBE went with digital bills and everyone has their last paid bill with meter reading in this email box. How difficult is it for GEBE to ask the population to furnish their last paid meter reading and bill from that last paid reading to current meter reading.
They are trying to shoot inflated bills with pre-dated meter readings and are successfully getting a portion of the gullible population to pay for the same consumption twice.
This is what happens when government grants a monopoly to a company which is supposedly government-owned. I would rather request an outsider to take over this company or let some other private companies get a license to supply power and water to residents. It’s a shame to see no accountability by anyone and our own government fails us by not holding the culpable to task in time. The result is that it is the same population which suffers, the company seems to get away with no accountability while the government keeps pushing the blame on each other and obscuring the issue.
It is only us the population to blame when our government fails us by not ensuring accountability and failing to ensure its population a basic right to power and water at a reasonable price.
If I look at any government-owned company I see abject failure and mismanagement. The airport saga has dragged since 2017 … that’s 5 years and counting. The hospital is a mess. The communication and Internet facilities are overpriced and not priced in line with our neighbouring islands. The power company is a failure. Mental health care is non-existent.
The population is being held to low standards by a bunch of 20 people in power who have absolute disregard for the population. These 20 only show up during elections.
Indeed, shame … shame on who?
Name withheld
Dear Editor,
You are kindly requested to publish the following explanations for public information to your article, “Hushang Ansary halted from calling SunResorts shareholders’ meetings” in your edition of Tuesday, August 30, 2022.
Dear Editor,
People in St. Maarten have suffered and they’re still praising the DP party government as a developed party.
While the same National Alliance (NA) party is in existence today they were the SPM, SPA and are now the NA party. Survey shows their performance as an opposition, from SPM to SPA to NA, was very poor.
Read my lips UP party won the election to govern 10-10-10 and beyond so this is the party St. Maarten voters want to govern St. Maarten since 10-10-10.
With all these falling of parliamentarians and government with Article 33 and 59, NA, DP and US Party are to be blamed.
Also what NA party is good for is to often call a vote of no confidence at any time without mercy.
Not too long ago, Rolando received a vote of no confidence and the minister for VROMI is still in the frying pan.
And a four seat-four seat parliamentarian clash worries the nation. Let’s see who will the snakes be or who will shift towards good governance for the will of the people.
Cuthbert Bannis
