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,
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
Dear Editor,
I knew it was coming, I even warned that the people would only rise up by their next pay slip, but somewhere, somehow, I had hoped it would not be true. Much to my dismay, the proof is in the pudding.
The numbers do not lie. My personal health insurance cost has gone up 2.7x compared to last month!
This law is draconian, and unfair, and completely unhinged with reality! Not just for myself, but also for my employer. If we total the costs, we are talking about 978.85 x 12 = NAf. 11,746.20 or $6,525.67 per year to insure a young, generally healthy professional. That is unacceptable from nearly all perceivable angles, truly.
In August: 640 SZV/ZV Employer NAf. 649.96, plus 641 SZV/ZV Employee NAf. 328.89 = 642 SZV/ZV Total NAf. 978.85.
In July: 300 Sickness Insurance NAf. 118.68.
An increase of 2.7x.
How much does this government want to take from the same people time and time again? Always resorting to the measure that will hit us in the pocket at the flick of a pen, but slow to do anything with regard to accountability, with increasing efficiency, with reducing costs, with tackling the problems at the root of the source,
We, the tax-paying citizens of this nation, have sacrificed with the COHO measures, taken hits with increased cost of basically everything, and are constantly bombarded one scandal after the other, so much so, that we cannot even begin to focus on one or get the answers we deserve. Enough is enough. This is the price we pay for electing short-term thinkers who only have their and their people’s own interests at heart.
No vision, no long-term plan, no viability assessments, and rampant inefficiencies have brought us to where we are now. If it were up to me, elections should be held sooner than later. It is time for change!
But whether it is sooner or later, I implore every hard-working, tax-paying St. Maartener, please, please, please, do not forget who put us in this mess, and what they did to “fix it”!
David Salomon
Dear Editor,
So, two years ago, I walk into the Haval dealership in Simpson Bay to buy a new car. They quote a price; we agree on the terms; I write a check and it’s a done deal. Seems pretty simple. Then the car has some minor problems. One big… but mostly small, easy-to-fix stuff. But the dealer who just took a fair bit of money from me on a car that that is factory new, does not want to hear it. They effectively say, “tough luck, that’s the way it goes.”
I found this annoying. The small stuff like the tires going flat every few days and other things I could deal with, but the fact that when you stepped on the gas to try to go up a hill and the car would just say to you
“maybe some other time“ was pretty disconcerting, especially for my wife who was the reason I bought the new car in the first place. So, I contacted the Haval mothership in China and we had a perfectly good professional exchange about the basic notion that –while their hardware may or may not be pretty good– the fact that “their after-sale service and local warranty were being handled by a bunch of bozos that you wouldn’t normally let mow your lawn, probably wasn’t good for their image over here.
To their great credit, the Haval mothership took it seriously and, pretty soon, we heard from the Dealer and, low and behold, all the little problems got fixed. The bigger problem took another more technical discussion with the Mothership which, after I told them where to look for the problem and the procedure to fix it ( common issue in modern electronic cars that most competent professionals are aware of) and that info was passed to the Dealership. Then that problem was resolved as well, and now the car is a perfectly good car.
Right up until the other day. Another nickel and dime failure. No big deal at all. A warning light comes on that says the battery in the key fob is failing. Now, as most people know, that key fob runs everything. When that’s bad, the car neither starts nor runs and you are dead on the road wherever you are. So, my wife being the rational and intelligent person she is, calls the Dealership where the car came from 24 months ago with about 6,000 miles on it, and says, “Can I come in and get this fixed please before I get stuck somewhere”. And they tell her, “ No… we don’t do that. Take it to a Chinese market somewhere, buy a battery and do it yourself “.
Really? She was happy to pay. Never asked for warranty or wanted it free. Just wanted it done right. Clearly an unreasonable request. The device itself is worth about $300 and probably still under warranty and you would think that having some Haval dead by the side of the road might reflect badly for the dealership. Apparently not. What they seem to want is some nonprofessional to pry this thing apart with a kitchen knife and take a whack at fixing it themselves. Why? So, they say later, “Gee… someone screwed with this… sorry, that will be $300 please, and four months to get it “.
And what do they think she is going say the next time someone asks, “Gee, how do you like your new Haval?” Probably something along the lines of “Well, the car is ok once they sort it out, but the Dealership is the worst place I have ever dealt with in some 50 odd years of buying cars. The next one will be a Toyota.”
Forest Gump said it best, “Stupid is as Stupid does.”
Steven Johnson
Dear Editor,
Our delegation led by myself, arrived on St. Vincent and the Grenadines last week as part of our sensitisation programme to let the world know of our struggle for emancipation and equality on Bonaire. While in St. Vincent, we have had very important and fruitful discussions with Prime Minister Dr. Honourable Ralph Gonsalves and the Cabinet of ministers to give them a deeper understanding of our fight to be listed as a “Non Self-governing Territory”.
Our team also engaged the media, on radio and television interviews, where we addressed the general public directly and engaged them in interactive call-in programmes. The government and people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines welcomed us warmly and fully support our fight against this form of neo-colonialism, supporting our right to self-determination. We continue our fight for freedom and we continue to thank the people of Bonaire for their support and commitment to the struggle.
James Finies,
President Nos Kier Boneiru Bek
