Dear Editor,
Egg prices on certain Caribbean islands have gone through the roof. If you don’t have a local backyard chicken or two, serving you up some eggs on a daily basis, you are left to do without or pay those high supermarket prices. One option is to produce locally and purchase locally.
One reason why eggs are so expensive is due to the bird flu (Avian influenza). U.S. poultry farms have been impacted by bird flu where 166 million birds have been affected since January 2022, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In January this year alone, 8.3 million birds have died due to bird flu, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently stated that the rapid spread of the highly infectious avian flu virus had reached unprecedented scale, wiping out hundreds of millions of birds worldwide and increasingly spilling over into mammals.
The economic impact is being felt worldwide. St. Maarten and other Caribbean islands import eggs from the U.S. and consumers are suffering with high prices. A dozen eggs in Saba are approximately US $15. In Colombia three dozen are US $325.
The erratic America First policy by the new U.S. administration that took over on January 20, 2025, especially the ad hoc tariff policy leading to uncertainty around the globe has caused more chaos to date leading to the U.S. stock market losing trillions since the November 2024 U.S. election.
The postponement and then on-again tariffs on Canada and Mexico can only lead to an increase in the costs of doing business which would be translated to an increase in the price of products across the three countries (U.S., Canada and Mexico).
The implications in the U.S. could impact prices of imported food products which are still to materialize in the coming months for St. Maarten consumers.
Bearing the aforementioned in mind, a local egg production pilot program should be started as one aspect of creating a sustainable path for self-sufficiency. This project could be an initiative for the St. Maarten Farmer’s Cooperative (SMFC).
The Cayman Islands Department of Agriculture launched the EggsUp programme with the aim to support Caymanian families with children by providing fresh local eggs.
Funding could be sought initially from the Government or via funds from the Trust Fund that is associated with the National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB). This very important project could bring relief to consumers.
Other nations within the region who import 90 per cent of their food products from the United States of America are taking a deeper look at this dependency and how it can be reduced. The realization of the current political landscape is a wake-up call and that something needs to be done with a new determination for self-reliance.
Roddy Heyliger
By Alex Rosaria
It is useful to compare last week’s election results with the 1967 Curaçao Island Council (KI) elections, where the Democratic Party (DP) secured 13 seats and governed alone.
Dear Editor,
Respect seems to be the trending topic, so I can’t help but comment on MP Jensen-Webster’s concern about of the budget’s lack of respect for St. Maarten’s MPs’ airline seating.
The other day I was at the courthouse annex (the former Parliament building on Back Street) and noticed what appears to be a serious lack of respect for St. Maarten’s Judiciary. Their building needs powerwashing to remove pigeon dirt, its eaves are broken and in need of repainting, the front door latch is missing, the door itself requires re-varnishing.
Tourists have eyes. The government should be far more cognizant of those than of MPs’ “seats.”
Pamela Sims
Dear Editor,
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport extends its deepest respect, admiration and gratitude to Dr. Clinita Arnsby Ford for her unwavering commitment, exceptional contributions and profound impact on both current and past St. Maarten students in Tallahassee. Dr. Ford passed away on March 14, 2025 at the age of 96. Dr. Ford, through The Tallahassee (FL) Chapter of The Links, Inc. dedicated her life to making St. Maarten students feel at home in Tallahassee via the Moms Away from Home programme. This programme left an indelible mark on both the lives of parents, students, and our island as a whole.
Dr. Ford’s exemplary career, marked by her passion for education, healthcare, and social advocacy, has shaped the future of many generations. Her dedication to service, leadership, and the academic development of St. Maarten students has truly exemplified the core values of compassion, integrity, and excellence. Whether in her work as a trailblazer in education or as an advocate for those in need, Dr. Ford has consistently demonstrated a commitment to the betterment of her fellow citizens.
Her professional achievements, coupled with her selfless contributions to community well-being, have set a benchmark for future generations of leaders in our society. Dr. Ford’s ability to inspire and bring about positive change is a testament to her character, perseverance, and love for the people of St. Maarten.
As we honour Dr. Clinita Arnsby Ford’s legacy, the Ministry recognizes not only her extraordinary accomplishments but also her role as a beacon of hope, strength, and progress. Her legacy will continue to inspire us all, guiding us towards a brighter future.
Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport
~ Reflecting on the Partition Treaty ~
Dear Editor,
The Partition Treaty, or Treaty of Concordia, purportedly signed on March 23, 1648, divided the Caribbean island of St. Martin between French and Dutch imperial, slaveholding and colonial interests.
According to articles 5 and 6 of the Treaty of Concordia, the majority of the people, the enslaved African men, women, and children of St. Martin, were, based on the French and Dutch laws of the day, property of the European slave owners.
The Black people were neither the “inhabitants” nor the “persons” referred to in what was significantly a business agreement to facilitate the exploitation of the salt and other material resources (art 5) in the two colonial territories.
That the enslaved people would have been ordered to pick, carry, and pile the stones that marked the supposed spot or location on Concordia hill where the treaty was said to have been signed, may be explored as legend or as our actual lot.
Such an exercise could be done with the same power that we pursue critical knowledge of the merciless, unreparated labor in the great ponds, building of the fortifications, mansions and mills, and the hewing, hauling, sowing, picking, and harvesting on the plantations and from the salt marshes by our ancestors, driven as beasts under the slavers’ lash.
Know about the Concordia treaty as a historical marker, yes; but beyond that it might best be left as a simple historical curiosity, along the same lines as Peter Stuyvesant losing part of his right leg during his being part of the Dutch military leadership of the 1644 attack on the Spanish occupiers of St. Martin.
The Treaty of Concordia is not a festive day for the emancipated St. Martin nation.
And how would this accord be maintained as a “national” day in an independent St. Martin – beyond the adjusted autonomy authorized by France and the Netherlands respectively in 2007 and 2010 for the North and South of our island?
The Partition Treaty is neither a founding text nor a seminal constitution of the truly liberated St. Martin nation. To our humanity this would be unmanly and detestable; and the French and Dutch nationality cannot absolve or solve what is the inherent evil at the very cornerstone of the Treaty of Concordia, and that is the dehumanization of the African or Black people of St. Martin as expressed, reinforced, and never corrected in that European accord.
The Partition Treaty of 1648 is not a thing of love, nor a celebration of the unity that was nurtured and consolidated most during the Traditional Period (1848-1963) by the people, individuals and families of the villages and towns of the St. Martin nation.
The Concordia treaty is not the foundation of this fraternal and familial unity of the St. Martin nation; a unity whose indivisibility we should be duty bound to honor, live, and fight for if needs be; a unity that is invariably forged best by all of the people – past, present, and the evolving future – of the South and North of our beloved Caribbean island, which is in the 21st century still a colony, by various names, of the Dutch Kingdom and the French Republic.
By Lasana M. Sekou
The above is an abstract version from an unfinished paper. © by Lasana M. Sekou.
