Dear Editor,
All over the world there are governments that own companies. They are generally called state-owned enterprises (SOEs). All over the world there has been the realization that states running companies can be problematic and unproductive and that in some sectors it is completely hopeless and in other sectors it is a necessary evil if social goals are to be met.
Let’s take two sectors for example: the utility sector and airport ownership.
In the case of the utility sector there remains significant value in state-owned ownership because the supply of water and electricity has such extensive and broad consequences if and when the supply is reduced or not competitively priced. So, many progressive governments have kept the essential control but have also privatized where the risk to the community is at a lower level.
Airports on the other hand are a sector where privatization is extensive and clearly proven that state involvement is unnecessary and unproductive. In the case of a private operator the operator’s interests are identical to the public’s interests to a very large degree and hence privatization in this sector does not bear a risk for the community and generally produces more tax income (rental, dividends, etc.) for the taxpayer and the community. Privatization usually results in greater efficiency and the possible downside of privatization can be a higher cost of capital for the operator.
In every case of privatization the government still retains extensive control through regulation in numerous areas .
In St. Maarten the majority voter view seems to be that “if we own and operate the airport we get more benefits”. In reality, the opposite is very likely true. If we have a private company take the risks and do the management the people of Sint Maarten are likely to have more benefits rather than less.
Whilst the financial logic for privatization is clearly in place, the most likely resistance to such a move is most likely going to be based on antipathy to the direction of foreign directors playing a major role in “our” airport. The fact that in this complex industry a specialized party (local or otherwise) might produce greater value to the St. Maarten community as a whole will not get the breathing space it deserves because of the extensively perpetrated myth of ownership value.
Robbie Ferron
Dear Editor,
Last week, I lost a dear friend who was a long-time resident of Sint Maarten. His name was Antoine Jurczenko, or Tony, as many people called him. Many people knew him as the former owner of Antoine’s or Da Livio’s restaurant in Philipsburg, or as one of Sint Maarten’s finest fishermen. I got to know him several years ago thru Island Water World. At the time I had my boat there and they knew I wanted to fish the Sint Maarten waters, but was not good at it. They knew of Antoine, as Antoine had to sell his small boat for medical reasons and could no longer go out to sea to fish. So, they introduced me to Antoine.
It was a match made in heaven. I would take Antoine out to sea to fish and he would teach me how to fish and a great relationship was started. Antoine was an incredible fisherman. We would go to sea and he had a technique where we would anchor about two miles off the coast and fish for Tuna, Wahoo, Mahi-Mahi or Kingfish on the surface and while we waited for a big fish to hit our bait, we would bottom fish in about 220 feet of water for Red Snappers. We always came back with about three big fish and 25 to 30 Red Snappers. We could not eat all the fish and I enjoyed giving what I could not eat to many people.
Antoine was uncanny about finding the right place to fish. He had several great spots to fish and when we went to one of them, without any GPS tools, I would get set to drop anchor and he would sometimes say, drop it 100 feet in this direction or that direction, which I did and he was always right. Once we got everything set up and were ready to fish, we would talk and share stories. There was never a dull moment. Antoine told me about the restaurants he owned all over the world with his wife, who also recently passed away.
In all the locations around the world he either went fishing with a rod and reel or caught fish by spear fishing. He taught me how to tie the right knots, properly bait a hook, how to properly reel in a big fish, because we always used light fishing line to give the big fish a fighting chance. Catching a big tuna on light line sometimes took an hour to get the fish in the boat. We would play games, once a big fish was on the hook to see who could tell what type of fish was on the line, before we got it in the boat. He always won. He even taught me the proper way to pull up a 20-pound anchor from 200 feet without killing myself. He had a technique for everything.
We would bottom fish with four hooks on each line and sometimes catch 3 or 4 fish at a time. One time Antoine brought his line up with four hooks and there were five fish on the line. That was Antoine. He was amazing. I joked with him and said that when he passed away, I would remember him as the man who caught five fish on four hooks. Antoine was a kind and private person and he was a giver. After several years, as we became closer, he told me many stories about himself and they were not only stories about fishing. The one I remember the most was during WW II. Antoine was Polish and during his teenage years he joined the French Resistance and used to run messages between the resistance groups. He was caught twice by the Germans and was held captive, but escaped twice, once by sliding down a rain pipe from the building where he was held. After the war he was awarded French citizenship for his efforts during the war.
Back to fishing. We needed bait for our fishing exploits and the best way to get the best bait was to fish for Ballyhoo off the many jetties in Sint Maarten. Of course, he had his favourite places and we went to them all. Again, his fishing skills did not let him down. We would sit side by side fishing for the small Ballyhoo using his amazing techniques. He would prepare a special cake of garlic bread crumps and oil to attract the Ballyhoo. There we were sitting side by side on top of our bait buckets catching Ballyhoo off the rocks. We would fish about six feet apart. At the end of our fishing, he would have about 30 to 40 Ballyhoo and I would usually have about six, but that was Antoine. He always beat me and, of course, give me all the fish.
At the end of his life, Antoine would fish for Snook along the shores. He told me how much the island had grown over the years and how sad it was that he was often chased at 90-plus years old from his Snook fishing spots. Fishing was truly in his blood. Well, I hope you get a glimpse as to who Antoine was. He was a dear friend and I loved him. A few years back, I had to sell my villa on Sint Maarten but I returned several times and visited Antoine. I miss him very much.
Tom Metz,
Formerly from Point Pirouette
Dear Editor,
I am a firm believer that the truth will always come out. It might take some time, but eventually it appears somewhere along the line.
To be told that I did not tell the truth does not sit well with me because with all my faults (yes, I have a few) I will not intentionally give out false information. I refer to the story of the introduction by the Dutch of the Mammoetwet in 1968, where the MULO system was changed. Why would the Dutch change their education system just because students from the Antilles had a better passing rate?
That made me wonder. It is, however, correct that Russell never implied that the Dutch could not cope with the MULO system, and I apologise for making that assumption.
Reading Russell Simmons’s letter on March 10th, I decided that due to my lack of knowledge on the subject to check out the Internet, and after reading various articles on the subject I had to respond with facts. It is true that like the news, you cannot always believe what is written on the Internet and unlike Russell, I was not part of that schooling system at the time. I tend to accept information that is provided online because you would think otherwise somebody would have complained about it.
As for delivering newspapers as a child (not selling them), the point I was trying to make, and which obviously did not come across is the fact that if you want to improve your living standards, you need to get off your backside and work for it.
I wanted my Dad to pay for the item I wanted, but he quite correctly told me to help myself by working for it. You feel empowered by the fact that you achieved this by yourself.
It might be just a small thing, but it changed my mindset in a lot of ways.
Rene Lammerse
Dear Editor,
NATO, the European Union, the United Nations and CARICOM have got their heads on monitoring Putin and Putin made a wrong move. No way, Putin cannot control Ukraine again (sanctions left, right, east, west, north, south).
A no-fly zone is needed while the entire world is watching China’s moves. Any wrong move China does, there will be an uprising against Chinese worldwide.
Wow! Hurray, Russians are even protesting Putin’s wrong move and his days are over.
Cuthbert Bannis
Dear Editor,
As Covid-19 is loosening its grip and the narrative is losing its power and the lies of it all are coming to light,
“The Establishment” needs another scenario to keep us in fear. To have a people you can control you need a people that is fearful. Why fear? Fear paralyzes one, it distorts your thinking and makes you obedient and dependent. Fear is the first emotion humankind was faced with and was aware of, so it is deeply rooted within us.
So up next is the possibility of war where many nations will be involved. Isn't it ironic how these events know exactly when one stops, so that the other can commence? The world has an opinion on Russia and most of it is negative and who can blame them. If the story that you are presented with is one-sided and all the images you are seeing come from the same source, then you will have a distorted opinion. If the media apparatus is in the hands of the USA, then they decide who is the good guy and who is the bad guy, and with their opinion the world blindly follows. The world follows because there are interests at play, and if anyone disagrees with the great USA, they might get sanctioned; more on that later.
This is the same country (USA) that condemns war. Same country that since its existence of almost 250 years has been at war over 220 years of that period. Having said that, I do not think they are in any position to condemn anyone about waging war. Nor comment on the sizes of the army of the respective countries and calling Russia the bully. Your military budget of almost $ 800 Billion a year is more than the next 10 countries combined that are in the top-10 list of greatest budgets of military spending. Since your army has always been the biggest it is safe to say that you have always been the bully, considering all the countries you have invaded and destroyed.
To every action there is a reaction and people must at least look at the whole story before they voice their opinions, but you see doing that takes effort and more importantly, it might challenge your belief system and people are not always ready for that.
Now I would like to get to the word that is used in the heading, “Sanctions.” You see when you do not do as the big bad wolf says, they sanction you. Simply meaning your way of life stops. The papers are full of companies that are pulling out of Russia and businesses that are cancelling their transactions with the country because if they do not, they might face sanctions from the biggest army and consumer in the world. And if the biggest consumer in the world stops buying your products, then that will hurt you financially. So, what do you do? You listen!
It would be the same as America telling St. Maarten to agree with them on something and if they do not then the cruise ships and all the planes will stop coming. Should you not agree then they will come up with some story on CNN that we have some disease here on the island and that it is unsafe to come on vacation here. What would the choice be that St. Maarten will make? We all know the answer to that question.
For all those that applaud these kinds of actions I would like to say this; there will come a time when the biggest sanction off all time shall take place. And this sanction will be geared to all humanity. And just like all sanctions what it will do is attack directly your way of life; in fact, your survival will depend on it. And just like all sanctions, your obeying one person will automatically mean that you are directly disobeying the other person and vice versa. This sanction will impose on you with indirect force. Why indirect force? Simply put, if you do not obey what they want you to do, you simply will not be able to buy food, not for you, not for your children, not for anyone that is dear to you!
So, before you applaud sanctions being put on a whole country, remember our time will come when sanctions will be put on all of us. COVID-19 was the test run to test our obedience and for most part we passed this test with flying colours.
In closing, another form of conditioning has started and that is that if you do not agree with your government, they can affect your way of life. Look at Canada with the protests of the truckers, bank accounts were frozen just because they went against the government that they elected. This will be the norm. You disagree with your government which is your right, the consequence then is that you cannot feed your family.
Judge for yourself the times we live in and ask yourself this question. Are we heading towards a period that physical money will be done away with, and if the answer is yes, then what are the options that will be mandated in terms on how we will spend money? Just know that the option that will be enforced will make it extremely easy to “cut you off” should you disagree with your government.
A person wrote about this 1,900 years ago. What did this person have to say about this event that will happen? And what are the outcomes on the decisions we make, should we agree or not agree? And what will be the sanctions that will be enforced against us all should we rebel?
Ramses Bislick
