Dear Editor,
By now we should know that without stability in government not much happens.
A person who always needles me about my opinions called me on Wednesday and told me that he expects me to vote for Anna Richardson tomorrow because I have highlighted what she has done throughout her reign as Minister of Justice, because he has to accept that even though she was criticised, when it come down to facts, she did more than plenty of the others since she got in there.
I personally will not boast about that because I realize that Minister Anna Richardson was aware of the fact that she was put in government to do a job and that according to me she did it to the best of her ability. Also, when I evaluate the kind of blows she got, and from those whom one would least expect, with her endeavor to get more than 700 justice workers what is due to them, and she was not deterred from completing that which she set out to do.
Right now there is a picture of a party leader circulating social media who as of present spent 10 years in government and in those 10 years did not propose any laws or propose to amend any laws. He did not have any laws passed nor did he achieve anything for the people, but his accumulated salary during those 10 years was NAf. 2,280,000. That is one circulating on social media, but I believe that there are a few more who have similar records who dare criticize the Minister of Justice negatively.
I do not have to think twice. I worked for the Justice ministry since 1965 and in St. Maarten since 1975 when the police were practically involved in everything pertaining to the government in St. Maarten, Statia and Saba, and I also believe that I have a good idea how things work in government. The St. Marten government has certain stalwarts who have sustained the daily operation of the government for years, who because of their tireless effort could be the cause of envious tongues saying, “Nobody is indespensible.” That’s the kind of impression I got of Minister Anna Richardson as she went about making sure she got things done for those 700 justice workers. I do not believe that everything is perfect, but it should only take the finishing touches.
I believe that any normal-thinking citizen of any country would like for there to be stability in their country. Take it or leave it, we all know that this has not been the case for almost 10 years since 2010. Stability in government has returned to St. Maarten since the National Alliance-led government took over and is the first government which against all odds was not toppled before the end of its term, putting St. Maarten back in a positive light, while members of the other political parties also being part of the government, but constantly positioned themselves in opposition.
What I would like to see if justice is done, with a little tweaking, is for the majority of those people in government to return in order to anchor the stability.
In ending, permit me to state this: When I stressed that stability in government is a big thing, I was asked, “what did the stable government do?” Knowing which political party he patronizes, I asked him to mention to me something that his party, whose members have consistently claimed to be in opposition, had done for the people in four years? His answer also was they are not in government. Automatically I retaliated with, “What have they done to justify that salary which is almost 10 times the minimum wage?”
Could it be that because Minister Anna Richardson did her utmost to accomplish what she did for those justice workers, envy is showing its ugly head?
Russell A. Simmons
