Dear Editor,
Several of your readers want to know why I have slowed down with my writing. Simple. Contrary to the Carnival Committee, the Domincanos Organization and other organizations I try as much as possible not to be a distraction for those who “keep Lent”.
By now you might have realised that I have always been against taking the Bible out of the schools and government buildings. We see and read about the different events that took place during the Lenten season which started as usual on Ash Wednesday, this year on February 22. In the paper of April 3, 2023, on page 11, there is a report with accompanying picture of Palm Sunday Services held on St. Eustatius. The Roman Catholics, the Methodists and the Anglicans on St. Maarten also held a joint Palm Sunday march along Front Street and Back Street through Philipsburg. To my surprise, nothing was reported about that event. And I ask myself, why not?
Also in the same paper there were two different articles promoting Junior carnival events, and the C3 making sure that the SCDF have optimal radio communication during the carnival parades.
I have asked it in the past and will repeat it. Who is responsible for the recent spike in negative
behavior of our youth? I have also stated in the past that my father would emphasize that “children who play sports and go to Sunday school do not end up in jail.”
Just before closing this letter a lady called me and said to me, “The next time you write you have to tell the Editor that he must not print that the police are on a go-slow. He should write that they are on a go-slower.”
Now this: when banks and government are pressuring people to do online banking, what are they
actually doing to the community?Russell A. Simmons
Unexpectedly, the global financial markets are reeling from a series of shocks prompted by the US Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) collapse about two weeks ago. Worried that the SVB could be the first domino to fall, I urged the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten (CBCS), on 13 March 2023, on my social media account to say something. Inconceivably, CBCS has so far preferred to stay in its cocoon.
A few days ago, the Minister of Finance sent a letter to the CBCS for more information. It’s beyond me why a letter was sent, and why this was published instead of a face-to-face meeting with the CBCS. If the CBCS had reacted quickly, it could have controlled the narrative instead of a political actor.
I digress. My fear became a reality. SVB was the first domino to fall, followed by Signature Bank, and the First Republic Bank. Crédit Suisse (CS) was forced to accept US$ billions to stay afloat in Europe. Some, including me, fear it could be a repeat of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, which led to a sharp contraction of the world economy in 2009.
The clear indicator of unrest is a sharp decline in oil prices despite strong efforts from US Fed and the Swiss National Bank to calm the situation. Just two days before the fall of SVB, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price, one of the leading global oil benchmarks, was over US $80 per barrel. After the shocks caused by SVB and CS, the WTI price fell by nearly US $15 per barrel.
The critical question is whether the situation was now better or worse than in 2008, which led to a sharp contraction of the world economy in 2009. This time bank failures are happening on both sides of the Atlantic. Also, the combined size of SVB and CS is US $750 billion, more significant than Lehman Brothers’ US $620 billion. Will the Federal Reserve contain this possible meltdown with a change in its monetary policies? In that case, what are the consequences for our country?
There are two causes of bank failure – inadequate capital and inadequate liquidity. Inadequate capital arises from bad loans or bad investments as was the case with CS and Lehman Brothers (2008). Inadequate liquidity is caused by rapid withdrawals of deposits.
SVB belongs to the inadequate liquidity category. SVB had approximately $200 billion in deposits and was overexposed to interest rate risks. This bank was not cautious, but greedy, and the greed overruled sound banking practice. To be fair, there were specific problems at SVB and Credit Suisse before the meltdown, as banks tried to balance inflation with financial stability. According to the Social Science Research Network, 186 US banks are vulnerable to a rapid liquidity drain like the SVB.
How vulnerable is our financial network? Why is the CBCS allowing its silence on this critical issue to potentially become a political sideshow? I hope the people at the CBCS realize that the genie is out of the bottle and that they have to say something.
Alex D. Rosaria was Minister of Economic Affairs, State Secretary of Finance and Member of Parliament. He is currently a member of the US think tanks Global Americans and Caribbean Policy Concern, as well as a freelancer in Asia and the Pacific.
Dear Editor,
The entire population agreed with MP Christophe Emmanuel concerning the small numbers of the vehicle number plates for 2023.
These numbers are very invisible night times. This will make things harder for the police, especially as some people have their plate covered.
For the hit and run individuals the numbers need to be visible at all times.
Government must stop ordering these kind of number plates for safety.
Cuthbert Bannis
Dear Editor,
Please allow me a section in your paper to stand up for progress, equality and prosperity!
The entrance of the PEP (Party for Progress, Equality and Prosperity) into the Island Council of Saba certainly is a sign of change with Mr. Hemmie Van Xanten.
The addition of change within the WIPM established party embodied by Ms. Elsa Peterson who ran a very professional and outstanding campaign is also a great and dynamic change for Saba, jewel most precious in the Caribbean Sea! She studied international law and human rights, a great asset and enrichment to the Saba Island Council! I admired the way in which Ms. Elsa Peterson gave a speech during her campaign of the historical facts of the pof the Netherlands in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the role that the Netherlands needs to play to redeem itself from this great evil and injustice towards people of African descent in the Dutch Kingdom!
The Dutch Government and Prime Minister Mark Rutte need to also pass laws to protect cultural diversity in the Netherlands and in the Dutch Kingdom. Respect towards race and culture, rich or poor, Black or White, Indian or Asian, Latino or Filipino, immigrant or not, foreign or native, we all are one people and we all deserve equal treatment!
Saba also needs to grow, tourism needs to be expanded! Enough of keeping Saba small and stagnant!
Island Council Member Ms. Elsa Peterson also was dynamic in stressing on the importance of leadership! “The leader is not only the one who manages a human group, but the one who knows how to lead it and straighten its crooked cells” (Dr. Jose Francisco Peña Gomez).
I encourage all the five Island Council Members of Saba and the two commissioners, Eviton Heyliger and Bruce Zagers, to please stand up for progress, equality and prosperity on small Saba like the PEP Party! I, on the other hand, will always be a commissioner of truth, justice, peace and righteousness!
I close in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that!”
Cristian Hassell Feliciano
Dear Editor,
There are some things that one shrugs his shoulder at, but then there are other things that should not be permitted. On Friday March 24th, while driving down Back Street I noticed a man who was speaking Spanish to a female who was standing on the sidewalk, doing body work on a car which was parked on the sidewalk in the area of Tamarindesteeg.
Initially I thought the person was washing the car there so I did not worry about it. But as I drove on it hit me that it was sandpaper and not a sponge or a cloth that man was using. I decided that the patrol will pass by there sooner or later and attend to that person for using the sidewalk to do bodywork on his car. I was in town again on Saturday and intentionally drove by where that person was working on that car and, lo and behold , he was there diligently doing body work on the car.
Today is Tuesday and that car is still parked on the left-hand side of the road, well primed and it
seems ready to be sprayed.
I need not mention the harm that spraying of cars can cause people especially when done in the open. I am not directing this criticism to the police alone because I am sure from Friday to today people from all layers of this community have seen that operation and I dare say no one has done anything about it. That leaves the question with me: “Who is conscientious in this country?”
Now this. I read the letter to you from John A. Richardson and again I say “Eureka” It reminded me of a saying that I have heard from time to time here in St. Maarten, “But d’ain gon’ happen here.” So my question is, “Are we not noticing the growing tension in the land? Dont we compare statistics from one year to the other’? Don’t those people in government realize that words like “scale back” and “being subtle” are there for a reason?
For years I have been hearing that a hungry man is an angry man. There are 24 times in the bible where reverence is given to the word “crave” and I believe craving does not give a good result. Not everything the old people say was interpreted correctly but I believe in “All crave all lost.”
My thanks, John Richardson.
Russell A. Simmons
