Dear Editor,
When someone is in a position where his/her decision is final, we do not use euphemisms. For instance, when a minister of government wants to force through his/her will, instead of using convince we use coerce. So, when are our people in government going to realize that it is time enough for them to understand that they cannot continue to insult the intelligence of the people of Sint Maarten by coercing them into, in this case, waiving five hundred guilders in front their eyes to accept the already prepared change in the way of collecting motor vehicle taxes for 2024? The Minister of Finance has already decided that come 2024 collection of motor vehicle taxes will be done via computer. Yes, decided, because when one talks about "the last Sint Maarten number plate", that means there will not be any more number plate system. The minister is talking stickers.
One would think that after that severe cyber-attack the minister would relax, knowing that the G.E.B.E. cyber-attack was about the loss of millions. Nope, this change in the collection of number plate taxes must happen. And then to top it off, the top brass in G.E.B.E. refuse to cooperate with the investigation. Let me write it like we does say, "This is what is running St. Martin". I must alert those involved about the Dutch term "willens en wetens". The schoolchildren would say those ministers have something up their sleeves.
But I am not finished yet. "Election day should be a national holiday to avoid the informalities and dishonesty of the country's electoral process". I am confused because this is coming from a person who is on the board of a political party. Or is he also trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the voters? I do not like the use of this word but I have to ask, "Who could be that stupid?".
You want me to vote for you, but you refuse to fight for my rights, and then try to fool me off with a lousy ploy of making election day a national holiday? Does that gentleman realize that holiday goes with celebration and the use of alcohol, which is the same all over the world? Does not that gentleman know that the sale of alcohol is forbidden on election day in many countries? If he were thinking like the usual slick politician, instead of trying to fool off the employees by trying to make them believe that he is trying to make election day a national holiday, he should organize transportation for the employees, make sure that they get the allotted four hours, and hope that they would vote for his party.
As I am writing this I had to smile because I was about to write that a lot of people sent me messages via the social media, but it was only four, then I said to myself my mother used to tell us, "two is a couple and three is a crowd", so I would not be exaggerating. So yes, I saw an incriminating message from four different people on social media and I thought, not Theo again, but this time as I read further the names of three or four others were mentioned. Believe it or not, I felt relieved because it is impossible for only politicians to be involved in all the cases for which so many people were indicted. In this world people are known for their behaviour.
The French are lovers and known for their cuisine, the Dutch are stingy, people from Dominica and St. Vincent are known for provisions, Trinidad for its Calypso and the Indians, as far as we know, love money deals. So, I was not surprised to see a few names of what is known to us as East Indians mentioned in that article.
Before closing, let me mention this conversation. Mr. Russell, do you know the man who is in charge of the newspaper? Why that question? Because not every time they talk about Sint Maarteners being lazy, that is the case". OK, so you would like to speak to the Editor of the newspaper and voice your opinion?
No, we want for him to understand what is really going on". You do not need the Editor for that, what you can do is get together with some interested people who know the facts, organise a meeting with the newspaper reporter. Explain the reporter your side of the story. If it newsworthy it will be printed like it is told. And then the public can form an opinion.
But I can tell you from now that, that stigma is difficult to get rid of and your politicians are not doing much to protect the local job market either. I have worked on all six of the islands of the Netherlands Antilles. Sint Maarten is the only island on which government has not reserved, let me call it, the middle-class jobs for its people. This is not called discrimination; this is protecting those who brought you to where you are today. Why should anyone blame me for putting my people first? I do not have proof but I was told that many people were encouraged by influential people to sell land or lease it to yes, to Chinese in order to put down a supermarket. Why would I sell you my land and then I have to come back to you and give you back the same money that you paid me? That does not make any sense.
I have a question. If Sint Maarten is 16 square miles and no permits should be given for two identical businesses to be within 300 metres of each other, how many identical businesses should there be on Sint Maarten? .
Russell A. Simmons
