Dear Chairman and Members of the Committee on Kingdom Relations of the TK and EK,
Just a moment for a periodic update on my part. And just a few observations. Although you can get bogged down in a question of definition (what is poverty? what is a low income threshold? what is the benchmark for a social minimum? what are the real necessary costs of living?) I see about 5 to 6 percent of the population in the European Netherlands below a defined income threshold (according to CBS). In the Caribbean Netherlands it is almost 30 percent and thus five or six times as much.
And then I am assuming the so-despised benchmark instead of the estimated 30 percent higher necessary cost of living. The Minister for Poverty Policy states that the Cabinet applies the “comply or explain” principle but at the same time does not consider the residents of the Caribbean Netherlands to be full-fledged Dutch citizens. This strikes me as a discriminatory course of action.
Why must a social minimum be invented for the Caribbean Netherlands when there is no regionally oriented framework for this in the European Netherlands either? It is true that money flows to the Caribbean Netherlands (more to Bonaire because people there protest more vehemently?) but it is a lot simpler and fairer when the national system applies everywhere (this applies, by the way, in all policy areas except when there are substantial differences with the situation in the European Netherlands, according to the Constitution).
The socioeconomic differences we observe are not of a substantial nature; indeed, they are not the cause but the result of government policies mentioned above in a discriminatory way. Moreover: adjusting the budget (as recently triumphantly reported again by the Cabinet in the context of the Spring Memorandum) is nice, but can just as easily be undone or omitted. No, the real, structural solution lies in recognizing Caribbean Dutch citizens as full-fledged Dutch citizens in one legal framework.
It should be noted that this letter focuses on the social context (including the unemployment benefit, which does not exist in the Caribbean Netherlands) but that in many policy areas unnecessary differences and exceptions have been captured in BES legislation: all that needs to be corrected.
And by the way, BES is too broad a context: the constitutionally argued substantive differences from the European Netherlands naturally apply per island (Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius).
I am not entirely alone in this criticism: the Court of Audit – in its annual assessment on Accountability Day – also rates the government’s policy on this component as “worrisome” (a 2 on a scale of 5).
I hope that your committee will address the government about this and call it to order. Discrimination has no place in the Netherlands!
Kind regards,
J.H.T. (Jan) Meijer
Dear Editor,
When you put people who are not properly trained in the matter to do a job, you can be guaranteed that mistakes and sometimes blunders will be made.
Those of us whose motor vehicles are insured by NAGICO have to pay for an extra service from C.A.R.S. Over the years I have been asking what does C.A.R.S. do and up to today no one can give me a clear explanation about C.A.R.S.
On several occasions the traffic was diverted by the police who were at the scene of the accident, because they had to wait for C.A.R.S. to come to take pictures of the scene of the accident before the vehicles involved in the accident could be moved. Something that we did with chalk, and if no one was injured, the vehicles involved in the collision were moved in order for the traffic to be able to continue flowing.
My question is what is this based on? Is C.A.R.S. the authority to determine who is responsible by law for the traffic accident?
Has the traffic ordinance been altered? What happens if a motor vehicle owner who is insured with NAGICO and is involved in a traffic accident insists on the police handling the accident?
RBC’s ATM machines were hacked. What do they do? They make sure that all of their ATM card holders are duly notified and RBC replaces their ATM cards. NAGICO’s insurance policies were falsified, the police and the Minister are invited for a meeting. What’s the difference? Could not NAGICO do the same?
If I am employed with a company and there are certain documents issued by that company to its clients, I believe when I have to scrutinize those documents, I should be able to detect if those documents are authentic. Hence the reason for me opening my letter the way I did. But these questions remain by me: Why only now? Who is fooling who? Who is feeling the pinch?
My perception is that the C.A.R.S. employees are doing the job of the police and the police are doing the job of C.A.R.S. I still do not understand what the police have to do with the design of NAGICO’s insurance policies. I believe that entities should engage legal advisers and technicians to do that. But as the world turns, I am gradually understanding why the Minister is becoming a more hands-on person.
Someone once told me that technology is going to make the people pay more for less. As the years have gone by I am understanding what he was talking about. One computer is going to replace five employees and that computer is going to be programmed to automatically charge for the service. Eventually the client is not going to consider it a big deal because of the quick service. But nevertheless he/she is paying for the service. Especially in the banks you are paying much more.
The majority of the salaries are deposited in banks, whether the employee agrees with it or not. At the same time the banks are using your money to make money so that your interest is next to nothing.
Since this letter is about cars and false documents, why are there still so many cars openly driving over the public roads without the correct number plates? Are we going to continue the trend of only a certain number of people being obliged to pay taxes and the rest go scot-free?
I have to remind my fellow men that those who desire to live honestly, and who want their lives to display faithfulness and authenticity, make choices based on what is true and right rather than what is expedient. The integrity of the upright leads them.
By the way, I am going to save John Richardson's letter to you from June 7, 2023, because I believe that beside civil servants, both job owners and employees should be aware of what is brought forward in that letter to you.
Russell A. Simmons
Dear Editor,
The Integrity Chamber came about because the Governor of St. Maarten, having taken into consideration that the problems concerning the integrity of the administration and constitution, identified in various reports, require an adequate and decisive approach to improve the situation that has arisen and that this approach was hereby proposed, August 21, 2015.
In perusing this Federal Ordinance on Integrity we learn the following:
- Chapter 1, Institution and Task, article 1-4
- Chapter 2, Layout and Composition, article 5-14
Integrity Chamber, paragraph 1
Secretariat, paragraph 2, article 15-16
Admittance law, paragraph 3, article 1
- Chapter 3, Supervision, management and resources, article 18-20
- Chapter 4, Advice from the Integrity Chamber
Paragraph 1, integrity violations, article 21-25
Paragraph 2, integrity policy, article 26-27
- Chapter 5, Registry and reporting, article 28-29
- Chapter 6, Other provisions, article 30-32
- Chapter 7, Transitional and final provisions, article 33-37
First of all, congratulations are in place for Mr. D. Franco with his appointment of being the first ever President of the Integrity Chamber Supervisory Council. Apparently Mr. Franco was appointed by Kingdom Decree as of January 1, 2023 for a term of three years. Why is it that we, the people of St. Maarten, are only now learning of this appointment in June, some 5 months later?
The Federal Ordinance establishing the Integrity Chamber went into force on August 21, 2015. Can the Integrity Chamber or the Prime Minister explain to the people of St. Maarten why there is a lapse, lack of continuity, seeing that some 7 years later it is deemed relevant to fill the important vacancy of President of the Integrity Chamber Supervisory Council? Why wasn’t this undertaken before?
Mr. Editor, something appears not kosher, and we the people have been kept since 2015 in the dark. The last CFT Chairman during his farewell address reportedly said that Corporate Governance was one of the biggest challenges facing Country St. Maarten and that the Integrity Chamber should fall under the CFT. Was this former chairman of the CFT alluding to something that has been hidden from the people of St. Maarten by the executive branch?
I guess some info can be gleaned from the fact that according to Chapter 3, titled Supervision, Management and Resources, there was no one appointed to head this most important office of Supervisory Council until the recent appointment of Mr. Franco as of January1, 2023. Perhaps the last 5 months Mr. Franco was working from his residence. Needless to say we are glad that he is finally here, as his delay could not have been caused by immigration issues. Chapter 2, paragraph 3, article 17, is applicable to him and his family.
Mr. Editor, the expectation was created in 2015 that better days are coming through the inception of the Integrity Chamber but there was no real commitment from the sponsors, cabinet of the Governor, Prime Minister and the Kingdom Council of Ministers to achieve such.
So now that it has been established that the Integrity Chamber has been understaffed since its inception, it is equally established that the people of St. Maarten have been fooled once again. The people of St. Maarten are constantly made fools of because we, as a people, hate reading. The people are kept under stress all the time that the only thing on their mind is survival. So efforts have to be put in place to fight on many fronts, among them self-development, self-enrichment, integrity and emotional intelligence.
Mr. Editor, it would appear that unless the Integrity Chamber can prove its legitimacy for being part of the fabric of this society in a positive way, meaning living up to the expectations created, it should be abolished. There is no need for more toothless tigers.
Chapter 5, articles 28-29 titled Registry and reporting. To whom does the Integrity Chamber have to report? Could the 28-29 be amended to reflect reporting to the people of St. Maarten? Can this be done retroactively? This info is of particular interest because the people can then determine for themselves if there has been a hands-off approach to the ills that were going on in the government-owned companies. It is reported that SOAB reports on GEBE and TelEm are hidden and not shared. What role is the Integrity Chamber playing here? Is this the way good governance, integrity and transparency should be promoted?
Did the Integrity Chamber look into the fact that many articles of incorporation were written more than 12 years ago? Are the lessons learned from the Enron scandal incorporated sufficiently in the articles of incorporation? If the Corporate Governance Code or the application thereof is not yielding improvement across the Boards, how is this been addressed? What about the Sarbanes Oxley Act, has the Corporate Governance Code been equally updated?
The environment in which business is conducted on St. Maarten is a changing one. 10 years ago there were many companies that could have done audits, today there are hardly any. This means, among others, that murders are being committed in broad daylight and no one cares. Many guardrails have been removed.
The Integrity Chamber knew it was not well staffed, there was no president of the Supervisory Council, yet the appearance was maintained that all is well. Did the aspects of the statute of limitations figure in any of these musings when contemplating the vacancies to be filled? Were there any conflicts of interests and how were these resolved?
The governor used many reports to come to the conclusion that integrity was lacking in our society and the governor justified the birthing of the Integrity Chamber through these conclusions.
Some 7 years on can the governor, there is continuance of office, inform the people of St. Maarten what the effects are of having a not properly functioning Integrity Chamber?
The people will patiently wait and murmur later.
Mr. Editor thanks kindly for the space.
John A. Richardson
Dear Editor,
A little more than a month ago, a lady who is well known to us, and who I am sure would not mind if I mentioned her name in connection with what I am about to write to you, wanted to know my opinion on what I later called a billboard jungle.
James Finies and Davika Bissessar of Bonaire Human Rights and Nos Kier Boneiru Bek, in their first international participation as associate members of the CARICOM Reparations Commission on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, created history by addressing the United Nations Permanent Forum for People of African Descent in New York on behalf of the people of Bonaire. Mr. Finies’ intervention at the United Nations was recorded and aired worldwide by the United Nations Web TV
(https://media.un.org/en/asset/k19/k19ymwnvtv).
“Nos ta papia Papiamento – We speak Papiamento – Our language that is together with Haiti-Creole the only two official Native Languages in the Caribbean that survived colonization – Today I will speak in “broken English”.
Our theme of today: Migration – Then forced migration – Today settlers’ migration or settlers’ colonialism by European Dutch colonization – As member of Permanent Forum of the people of African Descent Dr. June Soomer highlighted earlier – they are migrating with the right to vote in 90 days on our island.
My indigenous Indian civilization and roots were destroyed – My African civilization roots were destroyed – I am now a Caribbean Civilization, an Bonerian – our existence is now again under threat.
Colonialism, from the past? former? post-colonial? No, not the past, it is my present, my reality – I live in a Dutch colony Bonaire, 31 May 2023, in the 21st century.
Our island was kept colonized because, in my view, we were denied our history.
BHRO recommends: that “we”, this Permanent Forum on People of African Descent and CARICOM Reparations and others to create, produce urgently a “basic our-history document” for educational purposes that all Caribbean and further will incorporate in curriculum of all levels of education, from kindergarten to university level. … Give our kids this power – this will ensure that all our dreams, including reparations, will be realized.
I will finish by calling on this forum and all sisters and brothers here for support and solidarity on behalf of our people of Bonaire, as we are in a systemic displacement, depopulation and eradication. In a decade since 2010 we were reduced in 2017 to under 40% of the total population, by 2030 we will be less then 1/3 and will disappear soon, witnessed by all here today.
I also make a call on behalf of our sister islands’ civil society and human rights of Curaçao, Aruba, St. Maarten, Saba, St. Eustatius.
The “Dutch Apology” admitting their crimes changes our case from “internal, hidden from the world” issue to a continuous “international crime against humanity.”
Please help us – Save the Bonerians – Stop Colonialism in the Caribbean.
I am ending: about migration.
We all came in the same boats – We are here today, descendants of forced migration, we are still in the same boat. Then it was a voyage of no return, today in this boat, we have a common destiny, together, we all.
Thank you.
