Dear Editor,
On Monday, January 3, 2022, there was a post of the Government of St. Maarten circulating on social media depicting the amount of active cases of the Coronavirus disease. I did not believe what I saw and, just like I expected, within hours the Minister of Health reacted by letting us know that that amount was fake. Good work.
But in the meantime there is also a post going around on social media stating that MCB has taken a decision that as of January 24, 2022, no one who is not vaccinated against the Coronavirus will be permitted to enter their premises. I believe – no, I know – that this is overstepping their bounds. Human rights, the Constitution, laws on personal decision making, etc., come in play here.
What I am actually concerned about is that up the time of writing this letter, what I deem conspicuously, there is no reaction from anyone who should be standing up for the people of St. Maarten. The Windward Islands Bank is included in the premises of MCB and I have not seen, read or heard any kind of reaction from neither government nor in the papers or news outlets nor even from the W.I.B.
I am sure that W.I.B. is a branch of MCB, because all phone calls to the W,I.B. from St. Maarten go via MCB with all the ensuing searching before one could get through to whichever department or person they need. Whether it is to speak to your spouse or not, you are asked about your account number and then you are asked if you have an e-mail address and you name it. In the meantime your data or minutes are being consumed. When you are put on hold, you have to listen to a commercial for the bank in Papiamento, etc.
The W.I.B. also knows which of their clients have an ATM card or not; weather it was used or not and where it was used. I would at least by now expect them to let those clients know about the decision taken for January 2022, so that they can at least get an ATM card should they choose not to get vaccinated. Because even though one does online banking, at some point in time one will need cash, to pay for transportation, to get a snack, to give a tip, etc. I do not play the numbers, but I do not think people use the ATM card to buy numbers.
By now we all know that all moneys from government due to the people go to one or the other bank. So is government going to permit MCB to decide what is going to happen with the moneys of those people of St. Maarten who choose not to be vaccinated?
This is all over social media, but why the conspicuous silence from W.I.B.? Is it silent consent?
And is St. Maarten government made to shut up about this? They can at least let the people know that they know about what is on the social media and that they would look into it. Did not they ask the people to elect them so that they can take care of the people?.
As yet, a safe and blessed 2022 to your readers.
Russell A. Simmons
