Dear Editor,
People are continually hinting that I am backing the Minister of Justice, But I am not surprised, because I have highlighted several things that the Minister has done, which others have not done since 10-10-’10. And I will challenge anyone to prove to me that that is not a fact.
The Minister of Justice is my Minister because that is all I have done, since 1965, worked for the Justice department of the Netherlands Antilles and St. Maarten. Yes I am a retired Justice employee, but unfortunately, since 10-10-’10 I have not been able to enjoy the consistency of any Minister of Justice until now. I have been paying keen attention to what she has been doing for Justice since she has been in office and I would like for anyone to come with facts and show me when she has not made an effort to rectify whatever was not executed since 10-10-’10.
I am writing this because someone told me that “They leaving yo gyol alone these days.” I did not have to think for an answer, because the answer is staring everybody in the face. While she was working they were criticizing, expecting her to be discouraged. But because of her perseverance they were discouraged that she was not discouraged.
The coming elections have the attention of all politicians, so their criticism of the Justice Minister may be responded with “And what did you do?” So they have to take another route. And you know what, this will be a different kind of election than we have grown accustomed to since 10-10-’10. An election where only one set of people have something tangible to campaign on. Because this is the only government in, whether it is long or short, the history of country St. Maarten that can look forward to having sat for a full term. I have been mentioning it from the onset.
There is no opposition in Parliament. Every member is an individual who votes in favor or against. By now we know who have set themselves up as opposition, so I would like to know how they would face the people after making all kinds of excuses not to go to meetings in order not to form a quorum. with the intention for the government not to be able to get things done.
“We went to Ipko and Parlatino meetings. but we didn’t really do anything for the people.” “We boycotted the government as much as possible, for them to look bad.” These would be a fair answer when asked by the people, during the upcoming campaigning, “what have you done for us?” But again “honesty is the best policy” does not work in politics.
It seems as if the activities associated with the governance of this country have deteriorated so much that the integrity and honesty is no longer considered worthy of the honor by too many Members of Parliament of St. Maarten. To me this is worthless behavior and there should be more stringent rules and laws governing the duties and conduct of the members of Parliament and government. They are being televised live and they act as if they are in a bar or club indicating very little sense of decorum.
The word for what has been happening in our country by members of Parliament since 10-10-’10 can be described as “deteriorating”. If we expect our civil servants, our police people or the employees in the hotels to, let me use the everyday term, “behave ourselves correctly”, then we should also lead by example. Parliamentary Immunity does not mean to lose your sense of decorum, it affords you a little more latitude.
So the Minister of Justice is not “my gyol”, she is my Minister of Justice, and what I have always done is to rely on the Minister of Justice to take care of the needs of the justice workers among her other duties. It has never been easy, and there are no deals to be made.
My experience is that people who make deals get caught up with sooner or later, because that is what it is. It is a deal, not something genuine.
Police people do not strike, they use other methods to get their point across and they never let the public have the impression that they are not served or protected.
In closing I have to address this futility and waste of paper. Did nothing really happen in connection with the moratorium on transportation permits since 2014?
Wait a minute, when will the person asking that question refuse to be influenced to ask questions which are insulting to the intelligence of the people of St. Maarten. Is this really what we look like to the person asking those questions? We went to the Parlatino meeting, when can the people who paid for it, and who we are going to ask for their vote, expect a report on what positive came out of that Parlatino meeting?
By the way there is no good policing without police presence. Cameras do not stop crime, they just detect what happened within the scope of the crime scene.
Yesterday I was waiting in line to pay a bill, when an acquaintance who came in after, greeted me. As he mentioned my name this other person who begged me not to mention his name asked, “Are you Russell Simmons?” I nodded and then he continued to say, “I have a schoolmate right now in Holland who is working for Holland because when we applied for a job here a few years ago we were told that we were overqualified. He went back, but I remained here and I am doing alright for myself. So why doesn't government want us? All we want is a job here at home.” My answer to him was a simple “pottenkijkers.” He studied in Holland so he understood me right away. I believe that the English translation to that is “snoopers” (which is caused by one's guilty conscience). If I do not have anything to hide then I should not be afraid of snoopers.
As I am sitting here typing this letter my phone rang and someone said to me (a female voice) “John and them going Miami to teach our police how to shoot their own people.” I usually listen to what people have to say because I believe in picking sense out of nonsense, but gossiping is not my line and my father used to tell us that “ignorance is a curse,” so she might get mad at me for cutting her off and for writing this, but I do not indulge in what we call “small mindedness”.
Russell A. Simmons
