Dear Editor,
Mr. Jessurun (St. Maarten Anti-Poverty Platform) urges the government to bring down cost of living or increase salaries. The question was also, "Why should we have to send a letter to dialogue? I would add the word "still" or "again". In that article is also mentioned that the Prime Minister stated she had not received a letter from SMAPP for a dialogue with the Council of Ministers on poverty eradication.
I know I have a sense of decorum, but is it logical that one could feel insulted when one feels being taken for a ride by those who should be considered to know better? In other words, "Who does the PM think she is fooling. By now I know who is aware of the contents of the letters I have written to you and the PM is one of them. For that matter, the PM is also aware of the term I have used in several letters when writing of price control “Seventy percent or more of the country are living just on or below the poverty line". So, there is no way that I will accept that the PM is not aware of the continuous plight of the people for price control on Sint Maarten, period.
Besides that, does not one who asks and is chosen to lead have to be aware of what the positives and the negatives of the entity that he or she is going to lead are? Does it really take a letter for the Prime Minister to be aware that the prices are exorbitant? Was not there some kind of a book/guideline just issued with what the prices for building materials should be in connection with price gorging? If I state that the only way for people in government not to know about the prices in super markets, etc. is that because perhaps, they do not have to pay for what they shop. Would that be considered being sarcastic or...?
Let me ask this, are we not aware that the middle class is becoming penny pinchers to be able to live from pay check to pay check? If government is of the opinion it is necessary for the Minister and Members of Parliament to gain at least ten times the amount of the minimum/liveable wage, is it perhaps that the cost of a tin of milk for the Ministers and MPs is ten times that of the same tin of milk for the people collecting minimum wage?
So, let me also emphasize that we drastically need price control, whether salaries are increased or not. We have noticed too often that anytime any kind of measures are taken where the income of the employee is concerned, the prices in the businesses automatically go up. The other movement that is needed, is introduction of solar energy for Sint Maarten, starting with the new hospital.
Russell A. Simmons
