Dear Editor,
Several people have several different opinions about the arrest of the MP. There are a few people who like to pick my brains who called me and told me that it seems as if I want to leave the MP off the hook. Let me again mention that I do not condone wrongdoing. I also do not agree with the way Parliamentary immunity is interpreted here. In my opinion that is part of the cause and beginning of corruption: “I can do what I want”.
When I mention corruption in this case I do not mean dishonest or fraudulent behavior by those in power. I am referring to the process by which a word or expression is changed from the original state to one regarded as erroneous . In no form or fashion would I condone wrongdoing and if that MP burns his butt he will have to sit on the blisters.
In our days we used to use Tralala sweet oil. I continually hint that our people in government are people who lay and wait, hoping for the others to make a mistake and then criticise negatively. Instead of helping the same government they represent they are sparing the rod and are contributing towards messing up what is left of the good name of St. Maarten.
I am aware that that MP got away with a little too much, but whose fault is it? Is it not what I have constantly stated about the nature of our people in government – “I will cover up for you if you cover up for me”? So, I am not surprised .
That is why I stated that it is not a laughing matter. A child becomes what it sees, not what it is told not to do. I wonder who is going to cover up for who now, because it is said that the MP alone had more material than the calypsonians on elimination night.
Russell A. Simmons
Dear Editor,
I am writing this letter hoping that the minister with the required portfolio will listen to what I have to say and hopefully assist us!
My husband and I made a substantial investment in purchasing a condo at Sonesta Great Bay in 2010. Many people do not realize that there was a condo building (Miramar) attached to the hotel. These were bought privately and in our case for our retirement. We would use the unit for 2-3 months during the winter months and rent it through the hotel when we were not using it to supplement our pensions.
Since Irma, Sunwing has developed other properties on other islands not prioritizing the St. Maarten property. I do not feel that Sunwing has been completely transparent as to the delays. We have been fed excuse after excuse, some legitimate and others just delay tactics.
The development of this property should be a priority for the government and Sunwing, as its prime location would potentially increase tourism to the Philipsburg area and the island and create many much-needed jobs for the island.
I cannot understand how Sunwing can continually renege on their responsibility to the owners to rebuild, thus not allowing us the use of our homes.
Sincerely,
Karen Edwards Filacouridis
Dear Editor,
My father was a stickler for taking time to understand what is written. That and along with what I did for years, reading something that interests me at least twice is normal to me. Why am I saying this? About 10 o’clock on Thursday, March 16, someone called me and asked me, “Why should you say that the Members of Parliament did not even go to school?”
My first reaction was that I did not say anything about anybody not going to school. His response was, “But I read it in the paper this morning. You want to tell me I don’ know what I read?” So I asked him: “When was the last time that you and I were involved in any kind of conversation?” “Wah da got to do wid it?” So I asked him if it was yesterday? He said that it was about two weeks ago that he had last seen me. So why are you so sure about what I said yesterday? “But yo write it?” I responded, yes, I wrote a letter to the editor which was published, but I do not remember “saying” anything like the Members of Parliament did not even go to school. And told him to do himself a favour and read that letter again, not go over it, read it and then feel free to call me or not.
I am writing this to point out the reason why our seasoned politicians keep getting away with murder, simply because our people just run with things instead of taking their time to read or research it themselves. This is one of the reasons I write, because what I write I cannot deny.
Knowing how things go in his circle, it will become “Russell say the MP’s didn’t go to school.” It might be so, but I did not say or write that. What I will write now is that what I know from experience is that, if there are any statistics to bear me out, is that “children who go to Sunday school and play sports do not end up in jail.” I do not even have to mention numbers just by looking at the number of churches that we have on St. Maarten.
We should have never permitted anyone to come to St. Maarten and interfere and impose on our way to revere our God. The same God we run to at the beginning of December. History will show that we permit all kinds of businesses to open on Sundays but that business owners of foreign origin close their place of business on their countries’ flag day, independence day or whichever. We permit foreign nationals to parade the streets of St. Maarten with their countries’ national flags. I wrote it down.
On March 6 at 9:37am an American couple asked me if St. Maarten was part of another country. So, I told them yes, ready to explain to them about us being part of the Dutch kingdom. But before I could actually answer, they said they thought that we were Dutch. So, they saw the reaction on my face and asked if that was not a parade with flags from the Dominican Republic that they saw a few days ago. And right after that they said that they collected flags from countries all over the world, that is why they recognized the flag from the Dominican Republic. I was born in Aruba, I have an Aruban flag, but I do not raise it if I cannot comply with the contents of the flag ordinance.
I can remember asking who owns that building in which the First Response security company is situated? No one could give me an answer at that time and I did not make it a point.. What I did at that time was explain to them that the place of that foreign flag was wrong.
In closing I will mention this. Those of us who went to Sunday school were obliged to read the Bible, which enabled us to recognize difficult, non-everyday words, look them up in the dictionary, which expanded our vocabulary. So, via you, I would like to encourage our people to try reading more often. You might like it and then find books on civics of our country in order to avoid having to avoid yourself because you cannot even explain anything about your country.
Russell A. Simmons
Dear Editor,
I saw on the news that there is an unusual mass of seaweed coming across the Atlantic through the Caribbean, into Florida and on to the Gulf of Mexico, taking what one might regard as a hurricane path (the Atlantic Sargassum Belt). Like a hurricane we can’t stop the trajectory but this mass is estimated to be 5,000 miles long according to this recent report from CNN, which means most everyone’s tourism product will be affected in some way, but those islands that are able to manage the problem will be competitively better off.
The peak of this plague is predicted to be in July. According to the expert featured, it can possibly have a fatal effect on mangroves and coral reefs. The report also said that “in Barbados just last week, they reported they need 1,600 dump trucks a day to clean the beaches.” Would it be possible to limit the seaweed from reaching the shore in the first place by the placing of booms on either end of our most valued beaches resorts?
But then you have the additional problem of clearing the sea at some stage and disposal of the seaweed. I hear it makes good fertilizer.
At any rate, I think that a discussion of this potential problem should be tabled by the government before it arrives.
Mike Vieira
Dear Editor,
From internal leaks to prevent a CEO job acquisition to an all–out cyber–attack which included a 1–million–dollar price behind it for access to their data, our country is facing yet another obstacle with this GEBE fiasco.
For a short summary, GEBE closed its doors on March 17, 2022, up until June 6, 2022, after a cyber–attack which hit about 55 servers and 168 workstations. The attack being said as self–inflicting due to the weak security GEBE possessed to protect their servers at that time. Losing most if not their entire system which includes debtor and creditor information. Proceeding closing their doors, the team at GEBE came up with how they would categorize their clients without their database.
Clients were split into 4 categories – respectively A, B, C, and D.
Category A – clients who had received their bill and were urged to pay it prior to a specific date.
Category B – clients who were in a dispute over received invoices; for them to contact customer care.
Category C – clients who did not receive a bill; for them to come in and make a payment.
Category D – clients who were not uploaded into the system due to being new or recent changes made; for them to make a payment via the bank.
It was said that GEBE collections were down to 30-40% of monthly revenues after the attack. It was also said that GEBE was also collecting nearly NAf. 550,000 a day and had depleted down to nearly NAf. 30,000 a day after the cyber–attack.
Nearing its official anniversary of the breach, there are many questions at hand in relation to the transparency of the situation.
To date, regular bills are not received, what is being done about this?
For those who are receiving bills, what is being done about the incorrect readings?
How many people will be penalized to bear the additional costs; and who will benefit from this?
Which clients were excused?
Whose accounts were wiped out?
What happens to the outstanding amounts that clients are not able to pay?
What happens to the leaks that have gone unnoticed due to the delayed billing?
On what grounds does GEBE calculate or estimate what a client owes them without having proper record in their system?
These are questions that need answering. St. Maarten operates under one sole company who is responsible for the production/distribution of electricity and water operations. How can it be that, their data base was poorly protected, and furthermore not having contingencies in place? You come to ask, is this situation fully transparent to the public, or is it another ploy against the hard-working people of St. Maarten?
Viren V. Kotai
