Dear Editor,
While viewing the Memorial Service for my dear sister-in-law, Apostle Pearl, and listening to all the good things bestowed on her, it made me think of the good times I had with her and her daughters, Mshinda and Aisha, at home in Saunders, St. Maarten.
Pearl was always ready to open her doors to welcome family members and friends. She always showed my wife and me a good time when we visited St. Maarten. She was a good entertainer. To me, her specialty was a good and passionate manager at the Cupecoy Resort.
I can recall the first time, she accommodated my wife and me in a duplex suite overlooking the Caribbean Sea from our upstairs balcony, for the entire week, complimentary. Back on my job in New York, with Pan American Airway, I boosted what a great time I had. Since we fly that cost us nothing, my boss wanted to visit St. Maarten. Again, Pearl to the rescue. She accommodated my boss with the same complimentary accommodations. They loved it so much that they went back to St. Maarten for a second time, and Pearl greeted them with the same welcome, and complimentary stay at the resort.
That’s the kind of Pearl I knew, giving and helping. My close friend was in St. Croix, and got caught in a hurricane, and the hotel they were staying got damage, flights to New York were cancelled for a few days, and it happens they got an island hopper flight to St. Maarten, to connect to New York next day. I called out to Pearl for assistance to them. Again, the good Samaritan stretched out to accommodate my friend and wife to a complimentary suite, washed all their clothing, sneakers and ironed and folded their clothes for next-day travel. These folks had never seen or had such service rendered to them in their travel lives. They could not stop in giving her high praises and thanks.
In closing, Pearl was not only my sister-in-law, she is family. She became the Apostle Pearl Pantaleon, that carried on the message of God to the people. You have earned your place with our Heavenly Father. Here you will find eternal rest.
Be Blessed.
Ferdinand Lee James and Family
Fort Pierce, Florida
Dear Editor,
The economies of the Eastern Caribbean islands have seen many changes in fortunes over the last four decades. Typically the economies of the small island states are constrained by a dependence on the single tourism pillar with minimum diversification and very few diversification possibilities that can make a real difference. Common to them all are public sectors that are broadened to the maximum degree mainly driven by the political interest to provide employment and a lack of domestic savings that lead to long-term investments.
Dear Editor,
On November 4, 2021, an article was published in The Daily Herald with the heading “Quad passenger in hospital after collision”. The driver of the Hyundai Grand, W.P., who was involved in this accident told this newspaper that the article didn’t reflect properly what occurred that day.
Most important are the following:
1. The quad-driver had lost control and ended up on the other end of road, thereby causing the accident and hitting the Hyundai Grand. Incorrect was the statement that the quad was hit from behind.
2. The accident took place at around 2:30pm (and not around 6:00pm).
The whole story of the driver of the Hyundai Grand is as follows:
On the afternoon of November 3, 2021, while at work and just before 2:30pm I was driving along the Airport Main Road heading towards Maho. When I was passing the airport Taxi Entrance in a distance, I noticed there were two (2) ATV quad riders traveling at a high rate of speed in the opposite lane heading towards the airport. I then noticed that one (1) of the ATV quad riders was heading directly towards my vehicle. I immediately stepped on my brakes and pulled to the furthest right to avoid a head-on collision with the ATV quad.
Unfortunately, the ATV Quad collided into the right front of my vehicle. Due to the impact the ATV quad ended up against the airport’s guard wall parallel (to the left) of where my vehicle was stationary.
Driver of the Hyundai Grand
Dear Editor,
The published literature describing the history of St. Martin has misled our people in so many ways that we are confused about fact and fiction. In all countries in development, rising up means building people in mind, body, and soul. Knowing your history becomes a priority and it is time that we St. Martiners get our historical facts published so that we have the correct information. I commend all those who are making dire efforts in concretizing information for publication.
On a day like St. Martin Day, November 11, we celebrate and acknowledge the North and South sides as “A united people of St. Martin”, or as we often say, “one people”. The “one people” concept of this island is real, even though there are physical borders and two administrations. When we speak of unity of the people, we break down all barriers in order to make us one, namely our culture, our language, our values, and our heritage, which are inherent in us.
When Dr. Claude Wathey and Dr. Hubert Petit in 1959 planned the 11th of November, it was to celebrate the people “together as one” … one island, one people, one destiny! What great vision they had as we celebrate St. Martin Day for the 62nd time this year!
The “people concept” hereof residing on both sides of the Island, recognizing the unity and oneness of this Island must never be forgotten. November 11 is our day, a unique national day of the people of this island, which now embraces many people and many cultures but one destiny; St. Martin.
The people of St. Martin remain inspired to attain and maintain the nation’s sovereignty, autonomy, and peaceful existence. Much can be said about the spirit of the people of this Island, through their resilience when encountered with the challenges of their complex history, polity, natural disasters (hurricanes, earthmoving, and pandemics), and unnecessary socio-economic threats in the form of poverty, and lack of opportunity and hope.
The soul of the people of St. Martin is triumphant, because of its resilience, its drive and guide to attain and maintain a St. Martin unified socio-cultural reality and heritage. The aim of the people of this constituent state is constantly focused on and guaranteeing the natural “one people” experience of this island.
Although history in all its dimensions is a contributing factor towards the evolution of a people’s future, it is detrimental for reflection on St. Martin Day to acknowledge the past and especially to accentuate and use this day as a tool to aid the empowerment and enforcement of our nation-building in progress.
Our resiliency, our persistent struggle to conscientize our own people to assume more responsibility as a committed citizen in this country, our urge to improve the pillars that really make our constituent state an autonomous country, and our proven success in living peacefully in a country with more than 120 nationalities, must encourage us to continue celebrating our St. Martin Day with the aspiration to continue improving the livelihood of our people in spite of our restrictive financial resources.
St. Martin Day celebration is a catalyzer to enforce the progress of an already existing promising unification in this country. It is all about our responsibility as a citizen, our pride, honor, dignity, and integrity to empower our island identity and future. The history of our people is embedded in the stories of our ancestors, the music and dance of our people, the food and remedies of our soil, and the occupations of our hands and minds. The labor and love, the blood and tears, renewed hopes and dreams of the people of this country have given birth to a national consciousness that must be acknowledged with this celebration on St. Martin Day.
In achieving our national destiny, which can only be prepared for democratically, lies our fullest sense of nationhood and prosperity.
Hence, I will continue to conscientize my people who deserve this great day called: “St. Martin Day.”
Congratulations St. Martin!
Dr. Luc Mercelina
Political Leader of the URSM
Dear Chairman and members of the Kingdom Relations Committee,
I do not have anything really new to say but if the power of the message lies in repetition then I would like to elaborate on one aspect of my previous letters.
My overall idea is that the inhabitants of the Caribbean Netherlands (whereby I wish to limit myself in principle to the island of St. Eustatius), without realizing it themselves, actually find themselves in a legally comfortable, perhaps even privileged position.
