Dear Editor,

Hello. My name is Annmarie Vigliante. Recently I had a major issue with a very valuable lost package. I mailed out my original passport to the USA for renewal. I mailed it via USPS Priority Mail. The package reached USA Customs in 3 days, which was great, however, it never arrived at the address given. It was addressed to my mother, in New York. She never received it. My mom tracked it and found it in USA Customs in Florida. They claimed there was no forwarding address.

I called USPS, in St. Maarten, spoke to Marinka Gumbs and explained the situation. She immediately, started researching this issue. After all her hard work, and many emails and calls to US Customs, She found my package! Because of her hard work, my passport reached my address in N.Y.

I truly admire her dedication and commitment to her job. This is a perfect example of “spectacular” customer service. You’re very fortunate to have her on your team. Thank you. And God bless Marinka Gumbs, she is awesome!

Annmarie Vigliante

Dear Editor,

After reading the front page of “The Daily Herald” on January 29, 2024, about the Committee for Financial Supervision noting that the Government of St. Maarten achieved a possible surplus of between 20 to 30 million guilders in 2023, I laughed out loud in my house while reading the article to a friend. I laughed because the Government of St. Maarten failed to pay teachers at subsidized schools cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in December 2023.

Moreover, the Government of St. Maarten also promised all civil servants and teachers a 2% indexing in salary at the end of January. This did not occur. Moreover, the Government of St. Maarten did not pay teachers working at subsidized schools their COLA at the conclusion of January. Furthermore, several school boards have not paid increments in salary to teachers working at subsidized schools. Therefore, many teachers are owed three different types of payments.

It is very troubling that the caretaker minister of education and minister of finance have said nothing about why there has been a delay in paying COLA to teachers working at subsidized schools. Additionally, both ministers have been mum about why the 2% indexing has not been paid to teachers and civil servants. This was a vow made by the outgoing government.

Several teachers and civil servants asked me last weekend if they were being punished because the caretaker government is heading to the opposition benches. Others inquired if this was a ploy or trick to entice teachers and civil servants to vote for the present caretaker government.

During the Council of Ministers press briefing nothing was said by the Prime Minister about these issues. The 2 journalists did not even ask the prime minister about these fiscal issues either. It seems that no one cares about what happens to us.

These payments are worth fighting for because they are due to teachers and civil servants. Perhaps teachers all across this country need to do something about this situation themselves. Maybe one day that time may come.

Kenneth Cook

Dear Editor,

I have noticed that of late more and more people are reacting by writing to you about what is happening on St. Maarten. Not all of the content of those letters is positive.

People who know who I am would also ask me what I think about the results of the latest political election. Since 10-10-’10 what I have seen of how the people go about securing votes I am not surprised anymore. I will not say that I have lost respect for the people who for the last 13 years have occupied seats in the so many governments of St. Maarten, because my sense of decorum would not permit that, but the word disdain has crossed my mind once in a while. I have always gotten all kinds of questions from people who came here to work, to retire, on vacation or even to invest.

On several occasions I have been asked what about freedom of speech? My opinion about freedom of speech is that if you decide that you have the right to freedom of speech and say anything you want in the presence of anyone, then you must be ready to accept reaction from anyone.

I can still remember a situation on Aruba which the police had to deal with. There was an intense quarrel between next-door neighbors because of a dog. The one neighbor tried to scare away the other neighbor's dog which was urinating in front of his gate, by throwing a piece of stick at it. While settling that quarrel, the owner of the dog said to his neighbor, “You can say what you want to my wife, but don't ever touch my dog.” Too often when one thinks “it is not a big thing” another is ready to kill you for that same thing.

Now this. Someone sent me a video of an Italian who says his name is Peppe and who by using obscene language is imposing on St. Maarten government how to run the country. He is impressing on us to stay with the Dutch because we cannot change history. I do not know what he means by that, but he is telling William Marlin, who he calls his friend and who he claims is archaic, that he has to be aware that time changes and if he does not change with time he will die. I believe the history of Italy is also well known. So if this Italian person is saying that we cannot change history, what message is he sending to whom?

I have not read anything on the swearing-in of the latest members of Parliament yet, so I will have to come back on that. I am aware that the ending of the great majority of the oaths of office is “So Help Me God”, so I hope that that oath becomes sacred to those who took it.

Russell Simmons

Dear Editor,

We’ve just returned from our annual 3-week stay on the island, and I’d like to propose something that would be of benefit to all of us.

Have your tourism officials, PJIA management and building designers pack two suitcases full and then go through departure processing between the hours of 1:30-3:30pm.

As they enter the building, have them try to determine where the American Airlines ticket counter is, using only building signage. Then have them wait at the airline counter like everyone has to do.

Once they've done this, send them up a level to security, where the lines and wait are much longer. Make sure they take note of how poor (almost non-existent) the air-conditioning is on the second level.

After they've spent 30-45 minutes there, tell them they now must go to the departure waiting areas to experience firsthand the lack of air-conditioning at both ends of the building. Be sure to tell them that they need to spend at least an hour in the waiting areas, and they should try to find chairs so they can sit during the wait.

It is obvious to me as a visitor to the island many times over the past two decades that these people have no clue how inadequate the seating is or how badly the climate control is working. Then have these “tourists” ask themselves a simple question: “Is this really the kind of final impression we want these thousands of visitors to have of their island vacations?”

Frank Absher