Dear Editor,
A person of whom I will not reveal their country of origin said to me that she/he admires my courage for writing the way I do. I will not go down in further details because it is not about me.
That person said to me that that the government of Sint Maarten should not permit those organizations representing their country of origin to include articles of organization in their charter which warrant the official representation of their members on Sint Maarten. That person went on to say that that should be the task and duty of a consulate of that country stationed on Sint Maarten or commissioned for Sint Maarten.
What brought about that conversation was that while standing and talking about the amount of cars on Sint Maarten, quite a few people passed by and all of them greeted that person by name personally, so I jokingly said to that person, “You know more people than me on Sint Maarten.” The answer I got overwhelmed me a bit and I went to my car, took my pad and made notes of the conversation that we had. The answer to me was, “Who don’t know me on Sint Maarten not from here.” To myself I said, “You belong here.”
A few more positive things about Sint Maarten concerning the people on the island came out of that conversation, which again brings me to declare that it is more than time enough now for us to respect people and know that by determining who is a Sint Maartener is not going to change people’s sense of perception. By now we should have gathered that people want to be recognised and legitimised.
I will repeat: The majority of the people like order. That is one of the reasons for not being pleased when they are of the opinion that the police are not doing their job.
Russell A. Simmons
