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

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

I’ve written before about the new Cold War in the Caribbean between the U.S. and China. Lesser known is a similar Cold War thousands of miles away in the Pacific between, again, the U.S. and China. The reason for mentioning the Pacific is that this week something remarkable happened that caused China a major embarrassment.
China offered some Pacific islands including Fiji, Kiribati, Micronesia, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu millions of dollars in assistance and loans and a free trade agreement. In exchange, Beijing would train their police forces, provide cybersecurity, expand political ties, conduct sensitive marine mapping and gain greater access to natural resources on land and in the water.
The contents of this “security pact” that normally are strictly confidential, became known because they were leaked. In a 9th inning effort, the Chinese President tried to convince these islands that: “China will be a good brother.”
The Chinese Foreign Minister who was present in Fiji for a virtual meeting with the region thought this was a done deal. Yet, in the end, the small Pacific Islands rejected China’s offer because of concern with “China’s brotherly love” and a plain lack of confidence in Beijing.
What happened this week is a major blow to China which assumed it could continue to overrun (small) developing nations with its wallet diplomacy. Hopefully, we can learn from our Pacific Island politicians who rejected Beijing’s imperialistic diplomacy.
Unfortunately, China’s servants in Curaçao are still trying to convince us to go into business with Beijing. Remember the CEOs of major local state companies toasting champagne with the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) representatives? Let’s not forget that those representatives are still on our island and have the ear of many a politician.

Alex Rosaria
Chennai, India