Dear Editor,

This week the leader of the NOW party stated on the Lady Grace Radio Show that for four years the Government of St. Maarten neglected police officers and teachers. As a teacher, I agree or concur with this statement. In the case of teachers, many of us have suffered mightily. For example, public school teachers are still owed vacation allowance. On the other hand, teachers working at subsidized schools are still owed their cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Many of these teachers are wondering if they will receive their COLA next week when salaries are due.

The new Government of St. Maarten needs to do the following things to gain many teachers' respect and support.

First, ensure that teachers working at subsidized schools are paid COLA as soon as possible.

Second, devise a new formula or way how to pay subsidized schools. The current form is outdated.

Third, discontinue charging schools the same price that is billed to a business for electricity and water. A school does not make profit.

Fourth, make sure all schools have white boards, projectors and other forms of technology.

Fifth, extend the summer vacation to two months for teachers and students.

Sixth, permit students to return to school the second Monday of January.

Seventh, reduce the teaching period from 45 minutes to 30 or 35 minutes.

Eighth, amend the law to allow secondary schools to begin school at 9am and conclude at 3pm. Teachers and students will have additional time to rest and sleep.

Ninth, establish a monthly source of income to pay yearly COLA and Christmas bonuses.

Tenth, institute the recent policy on special education.

Eleventh, increase vacation allowance from 6 to 8 percent.

Twelfth, introduce a new salary scale for teachers, especially since many teachers remain at the bottom of the current salary scale for years.

There are a lot more areas a new minister of education can focus on besides the ones discussed in this article. Hopefully, the new minister of education will be an educator who worked in the elementary and secondary level. Such a person should also listen and use the ideas of teachers. If many of the issues confronting education are not quickly addressed, the departure of educators that is presently occurring will certainly continue.

In closing, my wish is for the new government to last for four years and bring what the leader of the NOW party described as tangible and meaningful results daily to the lives of us all.

Kenneth Cook

Dear Editor,

Many years ago when I first came to St. Maarten, on election day I was placed to work at the polling station at a hotel in Cay Hill. In those days one police officer was stationed at every polling station because of, among other reasons, the amicable manner in which the voters behaved.

Coming from Aruba and Curaçao, what stood out was the camaraderie between the supporters of the DP, the SPM and the WIPM parties. Everybody, and I mean everybody, as we would say here, ate out the same plate. People with three different color T-shirts, caps and flags, all eating together. Voters wearing T-shirts of a different political party, meeting and hugging each other. Even hanging out for a while with each other after having voted. This was the trend on election day here in St. Maarten. Even after 2010 during all of those toppling of governments with all its ups and downs, the people remained civil.

Notwithstanding COVID and [Hurricane – Ed.] Irma and the other ups and downs, we had four years of stability. As usual, not everybody, including myself, agreed wholeheartedly with what was going on in government, but nothing to compare with what has become of St. Maarten during the last I would say nine to ten months. Suddenly everybody has become corrupt, thieves, dirty this and dirty that. People who formerly stood firm on their feet all of a sudden became followers.

Social media is used to degenerate no matter who. Holland is advocating same sex marriage, and who am I to determine how people should feel about each other. Of late we increasingly see that kind of behavior revealing itself.

There were elections in Holland before ours and the party led by Geert Wilders emerged the biggest party. One of the first things that was highlighted was his sexuality. Not in defense of anyone and definitely not in defense of the Prime Minister because, after 10-10-’10, anyone who succeeded in keeping a government functioning in St. Maarten for four consecutive years should be able to defend themselves in personal matters. I read a letter to you in the paper of January 16 which ended: “Sincere statesmanship involves accountability and self reflection.” Qualities that seem to be lacking in your recent statements.

I have also expressed myself sometimes tough, in my letters to you.

Also I agree with some of what is written in the letter “A woman of state?”, but the contents of the whole letter was as if the writer was spewing venom.

There are two things which irk me: When people write to the Editor about others and are not responsible enough to let their name be added to the letter; and when women denigrate and belittle each other. I do not approve of women smearing each other. And that is simply because they are women and should know what the result of smearing each other brings. It remains that the way the world looks at women is different than the world looks at men. Men do not get pregnant and are not the subject of ridicule of pregnancy out of wedlock; men do not have abortions; and I can continue with a lot of things that bring (probably not rightfully so) scorn to women.

With the formation of this government and knowing the political history of those involved, it confirms the saying “Politics makes for strange bedfellows.” So I would like to ask the people of St. Maarten: When you sit back and think, is it so that politics really hurt you that much that all of a sudden people who you do not know where they come from could turn you so much against your neighbour, who cared for your child when you could not afford a babysitter, or what about the neighbors who pass each other food over the wall? Who are we going to fight with or ridicule or expose their dirty linen when in six months there is still no minimum wage regulation or when we have to continue bleeding through our noses because the water and light situation is not regulated?

When I see all of this reaction, I have to think, “What’s in it for me?”

Russell A. Simmons

Dear Editor,

The majority of the people of St. Maarten have not spoken because of the sexual preferences of officials nor any form of melee, nor because of anything other than that which affected them personally or financially. It seems that this election’s outcome credit is being taken by every cat and dog except the people who actually voted. And there is exactly where the problem lies. When credit is taken by persons that get on social media or that give endorsements to candidates or that back the candidates financially they now feel that the governing aspect of thing should not have their influence.

Problem nr2 lies with when negotiations start to form a government that is mostly done by persons that weren’t even on the party’s ballot. Why the adults that got the voters trust don’t lock themselves up in a room, in this case the 8 that most likely will govern, with for instance the governor or an independent entity and come to an agreement. No outsider, no family member, no one other than the persons that the majority of The People of St. Maarten voted for.

Elected officials are quick to forget, the moment the opportunity arises to be in power, who actually pays their salary. Elected officials also are quick to forget that the moment you are elected your life doesn’t belong to you anymore to do what you please or lead a life that is contrary to the office you hold. You put yourself in the position of wanting to represent The People, so lead a life accordingly that represents The People.

To whom much is given, much is required. It is very telling that a one-man party gained more votes than some that were in rule, it speaks volumes that The People don’t care how hard you worked, it says that The People didn’t feel you worked for them. To reiterate, whether you are in rule or you are in the opposition, when you see that monthly check, please ponder on who the people are that are responsible for that check and you will always come to the same answer. That check comes from The People of St. Maarten.

Ramses Bislick

Madame Prime Minister,

You are showing that you are as weak and petty of a loser as you were in governing this country. Your first statements following the elections were to a Curaçao newspaper where you slyly questioned the stability of the new coalition and called one of the coalition parties corrupt. You even somehow managed to imply that you and your opposition-bound party are victims.

Reading your recent interview left me baffled at the audacity with which you paint yourself as a victim of political circumstances. It’s quite a spectacle to witness someone who lost two seats in Parliament, failed miserably to form a new government, and got out-polled within her own party, carry on as if the people just removed the greatest remedy for all of their ills. Your expression of concern for the stability of the new coalition seems more like sour grapes than genuine worry.

The irony is staggering. You talk about integrity and label others corrupt while conveniently forgetting the corrupt members and actions within your own government. It takes a special kind of hypocrisy to accuse others of corruption while turning a blind eye to the skeletons in your own political closet.

Your party’s recent electoral defeats should serve as a wake-up call rather than an opportunity to play the victim. The public is growing weary of your vindictive ways and self-absorbed governing style.

Your so-called representation at the “highest possible level” seems to be nothing more than a façade for a government that increasingly believes its own hype, neglecting the call to serve the people that was placed upon it 4 years ago. Ironically, in your attempt to paint the opposition parties black, you inadvertently, through tone and attitude, showed the world why your party lost the election, but I’m guessing you didn’t even realise it.

Maybe it’s time to take a hard look in the mirror and reflect on the actual reasons behind your party’s decline. Blaming the opposition for keeping you out of government is a feeble attempt to deflect from the real issues. The people of St. Maarten deserve better than a leader who sees every setback as a personal attack.

In conclusion, Ms. Jacobs, it’s time to drop the victim act and face the reality that your party’s shortcomings are a result of its own actions or lack thereof. Sincere statesmanship, Madame “Woman of State”, involves accountability and self-reflection, qualities that seem to be sorely lacking in your recent statements.

Name Withheld