Honorable CARICOM leaders,
We took note of the important White House briefing on the Ninth Summit of the Americas meeting with leaders of the Caribbean Community CARICOM and the Dominican Republic of June 10, 2022, statement on challenges stemming from COVID-19, natural disasters due to climate change and with closing statement, “That the United States and CARICOM reaffirm our commitment to promoting and defending democracy and the rule of law, as enshrined in the Inter-American Democratic Charter.”
With this letter directed to the CARICOM leaders and the American president Mr. Biden and Vice-President Mrs. Harris we would like to add that Bonaire, as a small Caribbean island, we were the victim of forced illegal annexation and elimination of our democracy and reversed to an era of non-democracy when the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved on October 10, 2010.
One major critical issue at this summit was the theme of “democracy” where Cuba and Venezuela (which Bonaire is 50 miles off the coast of Venezuela) democracy were the center point of this discussion. We would like to add our situation which was imposed in a state of non-democracy – where our people are being ruled in a status against their wishes which they democratically and legally rejected after the annexation on October 10, 2010, and were embedded under unequal rights in the Dutch Constitution in October 2017.
We urge the CARICOM to discuss our island Bonaire as an individual case as it is of high urgency as it led to many violations of self-determination, democratic and human rights, eradication of the Bonaire natives, declared by the United Nations and International Community as crime against humanity:
Open borders for European Dutch that doubled the population in a decade, reducing the native Bonerians to less than 40% minority on their own island.
Reversing education policies and laws, denying our children human rights to education in own native language, Papiamento.
Replacing/changing our demography, lifting all small-market protections to open market, open pricing, wiping out all our local businesses replacing them with Dutch Europeans and others
Demoting and replacing all our local head of departments with Dutch immigrants taking over all local institutions and leadership positions
Raising and imposing taxes at level of Holland in Europe while our income is less than half of the income in Holland, Europe – land and property taxes increased by over 800% destitute locals from their inherited lands and food resources.
Creating and maintaining social inequality, pushing over 60% of the population under half of the poverty line.
We Bonerians, who are on an inevitable path to disappear as Caribbean people, we have no choice left but to reach out for support and solidarity to you as CARICOM leaders at this critical moment in our history as the summit raised to global attention especially on the theme of democracy. This is very special as “our nations are bonded together by shared values, culture, history, and family ties” as you reaffirmed your commitment to promoting and defending democracy and the rule of law. Also, that you will work in partnership with civil society and the private sector to ensure that democracy delivers for all our people and to build safe, inclusive, prosperous, equitable, and climate resilient societies.
To substantiate all above-mentioned violations and denial of our self-determination, democratic, social, political, cultural human rights we commissioned and finalized recently an independent United Nations-recognized report: “Assessment of self-governance sufficiency in conformity with internationally recognized standards: Country Bonaire” and video-report
https://youtu.be/Zj3zKvE5hHw that we would like to disseminate to your CARICOM leaders.
Thank you for taking time to read our note. We know it is a lot of information, so please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
James Finies – President Nos Ke Boneiru Bek
Davika Bissessar – President Bonaire Human Rights
Dear Editor,
A few days ago a person asked me what I meant when I wrote that the inland waters are the cash cow for St. Maarten. I told him to ask Mister Engel because he was the one who wrote about planting in the pond or something like that.
But the reason for me going back there is because of the way things are developing around Prins Bernhard Bridge and the Minister of VROMI is telling us that they can do what they want and we don’t have anything to say about it, which, no matter how they tried to play with words, is still disrespectful to the people of St. Maarten.
And another point is that the Minister of Justice will be needing more qualified people to man the office of the Ministry of Justice. In this case I must emphasize that in comparison to what we have been experiencing of late at least the Minister of Justice is being regarded in a positive sense.
The article stated “more qualified people.” Let me go straight to the point and mention that this does not surprise me, because for years now (long before this Minister of Justice) there have been all kinds of observations about employees who were employed not because of qualification, but because of political colour and as I have mentioned before the politicians made and still make use of this because they can get away with murder because there are not many who can correct their wrongdoings. Hence the countless investigations whether justified or not.
I read a letter to you from the person who puts Cuthbert Bannis under his letters and I do not agree with the general negative characterization of specifically the female employees of the justice department.. My opinion is that he may be playing with words while planting negativity in the minds of the public about the female justice workers. There is nothing like “more honest” or “not so honest”, both of them depict a grade of dishonesty or take away from being honest . I believe that this is a serious negative characterization of the people who are supposed to protect and serve the community of St. Maarten.
I do not believe that this letter should have been addressed to you, because of the serious implication. This is a generalization of negative behavior of the female employees of the justice department and I am not sure what damage it could do to the image of Sint Maarten. Those who are aware would acknowledge that this is the most attention that government has paid to the justice departments in years. Now this.
Many years ago I asked the then Minister of Finance Tuitt how does government go about collecting those millions of one cents which the businesses collect from the consumer for each dollar that is spent? The exchange rate was and still is $1.00 = NAf. 1.79 but for years now the business are collecting NAf. 1.80. The other explanation was that there are no “one cent” coins. So why is it that the customer always has to be the victim of these circumstances? His answer was that it is complicated to control. And I will say the same thing now like I said then. What is black on white is what it is, whether it is correct or not. So everybody should receive a receipt for payment and the receipt should show what currency was used. All of this should be programmed and recorded in the government-controlled cash register.
But I have to repeat my question. Who are the actual permit holders for all of these businesses operated by non-St. Maarteners, who have influence on what is or is not being done correctly in these places of business? .
For a while now people have been asking me why the Chinese don’t give you a receipt. My answer has always been, you should always ask for a receipt for payment from everybody who you pay money to as proof of purchase, rent or service and no one is allowed to deny you a receipt.
So, after all this, again I ask, “Who really cares?”
Russell A. Simmons
With heavy hearts all staff and employees of the Sea Aquarium Park waved goodbye to five dolphins that departed this morning aboard a cargo plane of air transport company DFS. The aircraft, which has Saudi Arabia as its destination. They will make a stopover in Cairo for a water change for the dolphins and for refuelling.
Their final destination will be Jeddah, where the dolphins will find a new home at Fakieh Aquarium. On board of the aircraft the animals were accompanied by the Director of Dolphins of the Curaçao facility, an internationally leading veterinarian on marine mammals, the Director of Dolphins of Fakieh Aquarium, and the chief trainer of that aquarium.
The decision to reduce the number of dolphins at the Sea Aquarium Park was not an easy one, but among other things became necessary because of financial, economic, and operational aspects resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic that started more than two years ago. This led to Curaçao Sea Aquarium Park and all associated companies closing for more than 7 weeks in 2020, and for almost two months in 2021. Periods during which the companies received no income at all.
The personnel cost for the total of approximately 150 employees, as well as the operational cost on the other hand, continued unabated. And that is without mentioning the cost of about ANG 100,000 per container for the bi-monthly container shipments of fish as food for the dolphins. The subsidies provided by the Curaçao government (NOW and TVL) to partially cover personnel and operational costs, were therefore indispensable and without these subsidies the companies would not have survived the COVID-19 pandemic. The financial reserves available for the companies were completely depleted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
An additional factor for considering reducing the number of dolphins at the facility, was the fact that ever since 2017 the Sea Aquarium's lagoons had already exceeded their maximum capacity for dolphins. Ever since that time a targeted search for potential new homes for some of the dolphins had therefore already been underway. As the welfare of the dolphins was paramount, facilities that showed interest in the animals but could not meet the set requirements and conditions, or which were excluded because of external circumstances, were not eligible as options to receive any of the dolphins.
There are a total of 17 dolphins at Dolphin Academy Curaçao, and 5 dolphins at Curaçao Dolphin Therapy Centre. Classified as Tursiops Truncatus, these dolphins are listed on Annex II of the 'Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora' (CITES), an international agreement on the trade in protected animals and plants that the European Union (EU), and 183 other countries adhere to.
Dolphin Academy Curaçao nor the Curaçao Dolphin Therapy Center own any of the dolphins but lease these from a holding company. With the capacity of the lagoons and the welfare of the dolphins in mind, the holding company therefore opted for lowering the number of dolphins, and started exploring various options. Fakieh Aquarium in Jeddah turned out to be a very viable option with the best available facilities. This resulted in talks with that aquarium for the transfer of five Curaçao-born dolphins, consisting of three female and two male dolphins, ranging in age from 5 to 10 years.
To qualify for the issuance of a CITES export licence, detailed information had to be provided to the competent authorities in Curaçao about for example the transport logistics that have to be carried out in complete accordance with IATA guidelines, and have to be based on conditions stipulated by CITES rules and regulations. Additional information about Fakieh Aquarium in Jeddah regarding animal welfare, the aftercare of the animals and extensive documentation had to be provided for approval by the authorities. Furthermore, a detailed transport plan had to be submitted containing the dimensions, construction materials and how the animals would be received in their new home after arrival in Jeddah.
For the CITES representative in Curaçao, the detailed documentation was sufficient to clear up any ambiguities regarding the transport and the animal welfare aspects in Jeddah, while the CITES representative had also received confirmation that the transport and the reception of the animals had been carefully prepared. Additionally, the Director of Dolphins at Curaçao Sea Aquarium Park not only accompanied the animals to Jeddah to ensure a safe transition, but he will also remain there for a period to ensure a seamless transition of the animals into the care of their new handlers.
While a collaboration agreement was signed with Fakieh Aquarium for the duration of a year to provide the Jeddah facility with advice and support with regards to the dolphins, Fakieh Aquarium committed itself to do everything in its power to provide the dolphins with the best possible facilities in Jeddah.
Adriaan “Dutch” Schrier
Curaçao
Dear Justice Minister,
Please notify all your female justice workers to please stamp everyone’s letters and keep a copy.
The male policemen and male detectives are more honest than many of the female justice workers and local lawyers.
Cuthbert Bannis
Dear Editor,
Someone who reads the paper online sent this to me and told me to see how I can get this across to the leaders of St. Maarten in order to let them know that their priority is to govern the country in the interest of the whole community, and not a chosen few.
As a consequence of all that is happening in the world today, increasingly the members of the clergy are drawing our attention to what is written in the Bible concerning the last days. When I read this piece, it took me to I Timothy 6:7-10. Here we go.
Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill once said: “I took a taxi one day to the BBC office for an interview. When I arrived, I asked the driver to wait for me for 40 minutes until I got back, but the driver apologized and said, ‘I can’t , because I have to go home to listen to Winston Churchill’s speech.’ I was amazed and delighted with the man’s desire to listen to my speech. So, I took out 10 pounds and gave it to the taxi driver without telling him who I was. When the driver collected the money, he said: ‘I’ll wait for hours until you come back, sir. And let Winston Churchill go to hell!’”
You can see how principles have been modified against money; nations sold for money; honour for money; families split for money; friends separated for money; people killed for money and people being made slaves for money. So, I have a simple question: “With all of these churches in St. Maarten and repeated announcements for hurricane preparedness and then in the beginning of December service of thanksgiving after the hurricane season, does I Timothy 6:7-10 mean anything to us?”
Now this. Why is there a minimum age limit to be able to participate in the motor vehicle number plate design competition? Are we telling our youth under 16 they do not have an idea about the highlights and history of St. Maarten? In my concept it is a local competition about St. Maarten.
Is Minister Irion aware that by the time I and thousands of Antillean children were 16 years old, we were examined in geography, the history of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, four foreign languages beside Dutch, and I can continue. And I hope no one reacts with “that was then,” because then they will be proving to me what my father told me when they changed from MULO to MAVO. If you want to dominate a person, keep his education at a minimum. And if you want to dominate a country, keep its citizens’ education at a minimum.
With a minister like Irion, we do not need anybody to try a thing with us, he is doing it for them. And does he really believe that 500 guilders will be an incentive to enter that competition? Well, in hindsight I am not sure because votes have been bought for less. I believe he is really pushing it a little too far. But I cannot blame him, because the beginning of this letter about Winston Churchill is about the love of money. But there are still a great many of us, even though the chips are down, who still enjoy a sense of integrity.
The minister should apologize to the schoolchildren. Or even better yet, do away with that competition. Who can decide for me what I love most about my country? Would not that be the same as the results of a political election?
When a committee is going to decide who has the better idea for the country, then Parliament should adopt those ideas and implement them.
Is not compulsory education up to 16 years old? And I am continuously having to ask myself what has happened to Parliament?
The Ministry of VROMI [Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure – Ed.] is telling us that once they have notified us about works they have decided will be executed, we the public will not be able to formally, yes, you read it right formally appeal.
Who are these dictators? I stand to be corrected, but as far as I know the people did not vote for ministers, the people voted for the members of Parliament, and up to now Parliament is responsible to the people.
I also read the policy concerning civil works permits and I started to laugh, because whether the people appeal or not, history has proven that it has always been about “who knows who” and/or like Winston Churchill so rightly stated.
I was told that a supermarket (as we would say) is coming where Kentucky was in town (Cannegieter Street). I wonder if public appeal will be allowed in this case. The entrance to the parking lot of Republic Bank is already a problem, because even though that parking lot is staffed by security officers, it takes the boom at the entrance at least eight if not more seconds to open. The waiting for that boom to open, the entrance to the public parking lot opposite Windward Island Bank, as well as the parking lot of Windward Islands Bank, all create traffic congestion at the intersection D.A. Peterson Street and Cannegieter Street.
Because of the experience with parking by the different supermarkets along the streets of St. Maarten and the increasing number of buses which are bigger than the customary 15-seaters, I do not think it takes an expert to realize that having a supermarket in that area would be a blatant abuse of power. Another supermarket within 300 metres of an already existing supermarket tells me that those in charge of issuing these permits have no respect or regard for the people of St. Maarten. Reckless behaviour begets reckless behaviour.
Russell A. Simmons
