Excellencies,
With reference to the upcoming 44th Regular Meeting on the agenda point “Dutch Apology” we would like your Honorable Barnett cooperation for the possibility to submit this urgent important letter/communication with the CARICOM Heads of States at your earliest convenience.
In this respect, we would like to add the following arguments for further considerations and discussions and actions based on the CARICOM Integration and Reparations vision and trajectory based on the recent New Year’s statement of the incoming chairman of CARICOM, Hon. Philip Davis: “We all share common histories – trials, traumas, and triumphs. As regional neighbors, we have, through the years, encountered many of the same hurdles, beat down the same walls, and conquered the same challenges. And indeed, we owe it to ourselves and each other to recognize that we are and always have been in this together.”
The recent December 19, 2022, “Dutch Apology” is a voluntary confession and admission of the Dutch government’s crimes against humanity, our enslaved and colonized ancestors, and is an international legal and diplomatic mechanism for correction and reparation of the past crimes and the continuous Dutch colonization of Bonaire and Caribbean peoples in this present time.
1 - Bonerian ancestors as well as all other Caribbean islands were forced/made slaves by these colonizers. As with the sweat, blood and tears of our ancestors on Bonaire, whole enslaved families, men, women, children, and also convicted enslaved ancestors from other sister islands were sentenced to labor on the saltpans as punishment and were worked to death in these pans of Bonaire. With a very short life span, they cultivated, harvested and shipped thousands and thousands of tons of this “white gold” to Holland to grow their main economic fishing pillar, building their economy and enriching themselves to one of world richest nations. All by our ancestors’ free labor and short-lived lives in these horror salt-plantations
2 - After the Dutch abolition law of 1863, our ancestors could not work for free for them anymore, the Dutch government spitefully decided to divide our island in five big parts sold our ancestors’ lands to Europeans in an auction in 1868 and abandoned our ancestors to fend for themselves.
3 - Our peoples, on all levels, were systematically and premeditated denied of all historical information on our slavery past and history as it was never mentioned nor was put in our school curriculum that is up today controlled and imposed by the Dutch Education Ministry.
Upon the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010 Bonaire was illegally annexed by the Dutch which resulted et al in the following:
- Opened borders for European Dutch exodus that doubled the Bonaire population in a decade, reducing the native Bonerians to less than 40%, minority on their own island.
- Reversing education policies and laws, denying our children human rights to education in our own native language, Papiamento, that is one of only two Caribbean native official languages that survived colonization.
- Replacing, changing our demography, lifting all small-market protections to open market, open pricing, wiping out all our local businesses replacing them with Dutch Europeans and others.
- Demoting and replacing all our local heads of departments with Dutch immigrants taking over all local institutions and leadership positions.
- Raising and imposing taxes to the level of Holland in Europe while our income is less than half of the income in Holland, Europe – land and property taxes increased by over 800%, destitute locals from their inherited lands and food resources.
- Creating and maintaining social inequality, pushing over 60% of the Bonerian population under the poverty line.
- After the 2010 illegal annexation of Bonaire, Holland forcefully expanded their Exclusive Economic Zone with an extra 200 nautical sea miles Exclusive Economic Zone of the Southern Caribbean Sea Basin, an expansion of seven times more EEZ than what they possessed before 2010 in the North Sea in Europe, in which they have absolute power by complete colonial rule from The Hague, Netherlands.
- The threat to the Caribbean as a peaceful region is real; recalling the 2018 and 2019 Dutch war-provocation re the Venezuela-embargo/sanctions as previous letters to CARICOM; with Bonaire 50 miles off the coast of Venezuela and possessing a deep-water harbor and the Dutch continuous efforts in expanding the international airport beyond commercial requirements to military standards and continuous efforts in buying properties around the airport .
- By instruction of Dutch government a group of the most decorated Dutch constitutional and legal experts researched and reported in June 2022 (see attached fact-check report), that the UN never confirmed decolonization of the Netherlands Antilles and the Dutch gave their own interpretation to article 73, a distorted process, as we never reached the UN-mandated full measure of self-governance or mandated equality and freedom.
We the People of Bonaire are willing to accept the Dutch government apology with the demand for reparations in the form of the people’s right to self-determination based on the following terms:
1: To re-enact our Bonaire people’s right to a just self-determination and decolonization process and trajectory by restoring our inalienable fundamental human rights by legal/political positioning, re-listing of Bonaire as United Nations non-self-governing-territory according to articles 1, 55, 73 and 103 of the Charter of the United Nations and resolutions 742, 747, 945, 1514 and 1541 that affirm the inalienable rights of the people of Bonaire to self-determination and in compliance with the Bonaire people’s international legal instruments: United Nations Charter, United Nations Decolonization Declaration, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, International Covenant on All Forms of Racial Discrimination, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
2: To start an international and CARICOM/UN guided process towards re-acquiring of the rights of the Bonaire people to their inherited auctioned lands.
3: Immediate stop of the current/ongoing de-population and eradication of Bonaire people’s demography and their culture, language and identity.
We are calling on the CARICOM for solidarity and support for reparations for the Bonerian people.
Yours sincerely,
James Finies, President Nos Kier Boneiru Bek
Davika Bissessar, President Bonaire Human Rights
Dear Editor,
What is a smart way for Sint Maarten to manage its relations with the Dutch Kingdom in such a manner that it best serves the next generations and leads to optimal living standard and minimized vulnerability in the future?
Your answer will be influenced by your view of the vulnerability of St. Maarten. If you consider that our country suffers from doubtful administration and is at risk by having only a one-pillar economy you may consider us to be vulnerable.
If on the other hand you believe that the present challenges are all caused by the Dutch association and that a break of this association would lead to a sudden spiritual regeneration of the populace which would soon after lead to an increase in efficiency, education, productivity and new economic opportunities you are likely to see it differently.
If your ancestors were enslaved you may find that the association with the country responsible for that action is so odious that you wish to sever ties as soon as possible regardless of the consequences.
On the other hand, even if your ancestors were enslaved you may consider that the same country has condemned slavery and that the present population of the country cannot be held responsible for what happened numerous generations back. You may also consider that much is being done in the “mother” country to combat many other forms of slavery and repression.
You may be looking more to the future than to the past and you may have recognized that all nations, particularly very small ones, need to maintain associations that will in various forms make their governance more viable and financially manageable and that limited research has been presented in this respect to date.
If you are a financial investor you are likely to lean towards maintaining the status quo as much as possible because changes in governance lead to economic insecurity, something not unique to St. Maarten.
On the other hand, if you are a young St. Maartener who has been exposed to the consequences of poor governance and administration and you have witnessed more effective scenarios, you may wish to change the present situation at all costs on the basis that anything should be better than the present.
No matter which view you hold, you may well be interested in understanding the costs of change of association and restructuring and noting the disruption and deficits that occurred in the first decade of country St. Maarten and the debt trap that so many similar jurisdictions suffer from.
The St. Maarten population are approaching this important subject from a large variety of angles. The political leaders seem to have mixed and sometimes contradictory positions. Many positions on the subject of kingdom relations appear to be based on convenient politics.
Future decision-making on the subject would be far superior if the public were to have a greater understanding of all the opportunities and risks and a greater awareness of alternatives. This would be aided by political parties holding more consistent positions that were substantiated by in-depth research into future scenarios. The making of these future scenarios is a difficult subject indeed.
Robbie Ferron
Dear Editor,
As residents of the beautiful island of St Maarten, we must understand the impact of our daily actions on the environment. One simple, yet highly effective, practice that we can adopt is recycling. Although it is important, recycling is not yet a widespread habit on our island, and it is time for us to take notice and act.
Recycling has so many benefits for our environment. By recycling, we can reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, conserve valuable natural resources like timber, minerals, and oil, and decrease the release of harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Landfills can release toxic chemicals that can contaminate soil and groundwater, but recycling can help to minimize this problem.
Unfortunately, recycling is not yet widespread on our island, and this is largely due to a lack of resources and facilities. Currently, there are only a few recycling centers, and they are not equipped to handle the vast amount of waste produced. This means that much of the waste ends up in landfills or littering the streets.
In addition to the lack of infrastructure, there is also a lack of education and awareness about the importance of recycling. Many of our fellow residents may not understand the impact of recycling or how it works. They may also be hesitant about the time or cost involved in sorting and delivering recyclable materials. These are all obstacles that we need to overcome in order to increase the level of recycling on our island.
So, what can we do to help? It's simple – we need to work together as a community to promote and encourage recycling. This could involve creating new recycling facilities, offering educational programs, and providing incentives for individuals to recycle. The government and local organizations can also collaborate on a comprehensive waste management plan that incorporates the development of recycling facilities and programs.
In conclusion, recycling is a vital environmental practice that we should all support. By working together, we can create a culture of recycling on our island, conserve our precious resources, and leave a cleaner, healthier world for future generations. At the end of the day, it's about showing compassion for our fellow residents and for the planet we call home.
S.M.R.
Initials used at author’s request.
Dear Editor,
After previously shining the light on “Call Centers” as an avenue to diversify the economy, the topic today will surround “Trade Fairs”.
A trade fair and/or exhibition is a congregation of showrooms where different vendors are under one roof. Fair and exhibitions constitute the means of presenting goods and/or services with the intention to attract the visitor’s attention which in turn would be grasping their interest in the goods or products displayed.
St. Maarten is already a major hub throughout the Caribbean region with the plus side being – no duties on our imports. On St. Maarten, we currently import almost everything in large quantities, i.e. supermarket products, hair/beauty products, formal/casual clothing, shoes, etc. Vendors from various departments on St. Maarten can have the opportunity to act as the middleman between the products they already import and their neighbouring islands such as Statia, St. Barths, Anguilla, Antigua, St. Kitts and Nevis, etc., who are already somewhat dependent on St. Maarten.
To include, St. Maarten also consists of a few local manufacturers, e.g. Nectar SXM, Guava berry, Etna, etc. So not only the vendors who import goods can have an opportunity to display their products on display, but local manufacturers will also gain the opportunity to mass-produce their product for wholesale. In turn, this would in fact broaden the reach of a product locally produced on our island, St. Maarten.
An event like this can be best hosted by the Ministry of TEATT [Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication – Ed.] in collaboration with the business community and the Chamber of Commerce. The combination of these departments can send out invitations to the merchants of our neighbouring islands through their respective chamber of commerce.
In regard to funding, and creating an attractive product that is inviting:
A vendor/exhibitor list could be created.
A formal fee could be imposed towards the vendors/exhibitors in order to secure their position in such a fair. With, of course, the government’s aid in such a case.
Our wholesalers can be approached and urged to provide special rates to first-time attendees, which in the future would no longer be applicable.
To perhaps give impetus to this initiative, the first trade fair turnover could be waived from TOT [turnover tax], which would encourage more exhibitors to get a booth.
Some benefits to list:
We stand to see a growth of the economy with additional visitors.
Hotels and restaurants stand to gain more volume.
Taxi drivers would see an increase of movement.
PJIAE [airport] sees an influx of passengers.
Local merchants will acquire higher exposure thus generating more turnover.
Better networking opportunities throughout the Caribbean region.
Further solidifying the “hub” status of St. Maarten.
Growth is needed via new ideologies; a fair and/or exhibition is not impossible to achieve. As mentioned above, we already are one foot in with our major imports and our few local manufacturers, including good relationships with our neighbouring islands. The factor of creating a “trade fair package” to invite those merchants from our neighbouring islands is the second step to take. This Trade Fair can eventually be a yearly event and act as a catalyst of economic activity on our island.
All in all, we are in a position to benefit greatly; a win-win situation, St. Maarten can be in the position to increase inter-island tourism, and merchants from various departments see more business from off-islanders, thus achieving inclusive growth for the country.
Viren V Kotai
Dear Editor,
Thanks to the public that praised me concerning talking about lack of restrooms on both sides of the island, Dutch and French.
Give me three months as the finance minister: l will pay all justice workers and teachers and put all parliamentarians’ and some ministers’ salaries on hold.
Why is St. Maarten sharing its central bank with Curaçao and our justice workers and teachers cannot be paid?
Cuthbert Bannis
