Dear Editor,
An informed and frustrated citizen wrote last week that we should cancel emancipation day because he/she learnt that we are allowing the Dutch secret police (Gestapo) to operate on the island without reporting to the minister of justice. The report further states that it is unclear who they are targeting in their investigations or from whom they might have obtained legal authority to use electronic wiretapping and eaves dropping to gather information. We cannot lose sight of the fact that we are an island of laws and not men, and anyone operating outside the laws of the land is simply an outlaw, whether they have the blessing of the Dutch master or not.
I have through the years seen cases thrown out because outside justice organizations were operating in the territories without authority. The contention that a minister has signed an agreement to this effect, and only now parliament has gotten air of it means quite simply someone has dropped the ball. To some in parliament, the jury is still out as to whether we are a colony or not. They cling to the old “Lynch” teaching of giving a slave a big name or a ceremonial position and you can rule them forever.
Nothing fits that teaching more than the pride we see in those being called Prime Minister and President of parliament. It is tantamount to the house slave, who was heard to exclaim to his owner when the plantation was set afire “Massa we house on fire”. And if we follow the many meetings we were honoured to witness with PM Rutte, we would see the sitting arrangement and who speaks. But again, we know how proud this makes us, we take special pride in being used to benefit the master.
The Dutch government has made so many derogatory statements about us over the years, but thought it quite normal to ask us to lobby countries in the Caribbean to get them on the Security Council. Their strategy works so well that our “Prime Minister” tried explaining to the press how great that would be for St. Maarten, even though they tried to destroy our investment climate and seriously injure the already slow economy.
All the constitutional experts, who are worth their salt, will tell you that nowhere on earth they know of a country with four Prime Ministers. And the continued belief that we are equal to self-governing politically emancipated countries is a step too far, especially your colonial master.
Our ancestors fought too hard for the freedoms we now enjoy. I am sure they thought that we would have picked up the mantle to remove the shackles from our minds, after all they succeeded in removing those from our arms and legs. I can assure you that emancipation day is more relevant today for our people, and foremost our young people who must know that nothing was given without struggle and bloodshed, and nothing comes without a price.
If you are truly convinced that things are definitely not the way it should be, your targets should be those fifteen freeloaders in parliament and the seven legislators of varying ilk they support. Our duty and obligation now is not to withdraw our drive to honour our ancestors, but to correct the many colonial spins of history. This is our country and we should not relinquish any authority that is rightfully ours to a foreign power five thousand miles across the Atlantic. It high time we stand our ground and not surrender a single grain of sand that belongs to us. Who knows, history might one day also celebrate our brave actions.
Elton Jones
