Editor,
Please permit me some space to address the general public. You see, there’s bound to be the usual political rhetoric about what the opposition did on Monday, November 7, 2022, in not granting quorum for the CC meeting about the unity flag, so let me be ahead of the circus.
The coalition showed up in full force to remove a President of Parliament who was actually acting in an unbiased manner: scheduling meetings requested by both coalition and opposition members of Parliament. Note that there are meetings on the docket since 2021 that have not been called, as outlined by the dismissed President of Parliament, MP Grisha Marten.
Some members of this new coalition, of which we have yet to see formal proof, only show up when called by one person to do so, and they vote as they are told to vote, too. One is consistently out of office or off island for personal reasons not related to medical leave. We have another MP who will soon be off island again, for medical leave. This consistently leaves Parliament at a deficit, in terms of members available to grant a quorum.
If the coalition is strong and the numbers are there, why do you need any opposition members to sign in to grant you a quorum? Never mind the fact that it has been opposition members holding quorum for many meetings since 2020, especially since the two latest members have joined the coalition. So, I cannot and will not stand by as the lie of “opposition is working against the country” is crafted by a coalition that lacks the strength and conviction to hold its own ministers accountable.
In a previous meeting, the first Vice President, MP Marlin, stated that when he is gone for medical purposes, it will be for all remaining MPs to do “what is right” and support meetings, etc., of Parliament. I stated afterwards that it is not for any MP to compromise/sacrifice their right to vote or act according to their conscience due to one MP’s refusal to relinquish their seat, leaving Parliament at a 7-7 split for months. For example, if I, as an individual MP, do not agree with the 2023 budget, must I then set aside my valid concerns and vote “Yes” just because the coalition has decided to leave Parliament at a 7-7 split? No. “Going along to get along” is not the way I intend to represent the people.
I, personally, do not recognize nor support the flag, but I support the idea behind it. The narrative being spun is that because the PFP faction does not support the unity flag we do not support unity, since that’s all they can say as they lack substantial arguments. Disliking the flag, the process for how the flag came about and the colonial symbol on the flag doesn’t make me, or PFP, villains in this fantasy that coalition will try to create.
Fact: no faction in Parliament, pre- or post-10-10-10, has spoken, pushed and argued for more cooperation/collaboration with our Northern neighbors than the PFP faction, at all times. From my time in the Netherlands, organizing St. Martin’s Day forums with USC and Pelicarus, geared towards bringing our students and young professionals closer together in collaborative spirit, this has been a cause I have championed.
During COVID, when my fellow MPs were calling for us to stop containers of food from going to the French side due to their border restrictions, it was this MP who stated that it cannot be our intention to starve out our brothers and sisters to the North.
It is the PFP faction that has submitted a proposal to Parliament to end our Parlatino membership and channel those funds into developing closer ties with the French side, as well as our immediate neighbors. Because it’s one thing to talk a big game about unity and have a “symbol” of unity, but quite another to do the work. Performative actions have been the norm and that must stop.
In September 2020, due to the Prefet maintaining border restrictions for COVID, there was a large demonstration where the unity flag was carried as a symbol of unity. It is important to mark that distinction; that the Prefet closed the border. Because in 2021, when the people of Saint Martin blocked their own border to protest their own valid issues with their state of affairs, the same folks who cried unity were crying foul. Unity is recognizing that our brothers and sisters to the North have usually blocked the frontier when they are protesting, so I was unsure why so many were surprised and upset at this. Support must be universal and consistent, not performative, and conditional, and only when we like it.
Another fact: in 2016, when the then-President of the Collectivite, the late President Aline Hanson, signed off on a stop-order for illegal works happening at Captain Oliver’s in Oyster Pond, it was the National Alliance, UP and USP factions that boycotted the St. Martin’s Day celebrations of 2016, held on the French side. And now they are the vanguards, the heralds, of unity on this island? I think not.
The silencing of MP Wescot after the informal meeting was streamed on Facebook serves as a spotlight on this kind of behavior. They have shown us who they are, time and time again; nothing has changed.
I understand that previous opposition members have measured their success by how swiftly they were able to throw down government and call elections, so it’s difficult to process an opposition who is working with government while working against the cognitive dissonance the coalition seems to share, with these lofty ideas while ignoring the very real ones facing the people they claim to represent.
Ultimately, my sentiments about the flag are not unique. I have been inundated with messages and phone calls from especially young persons on both sides asking why these decisions were made without community input or consultation. Many do not feel represented by the unity flag and do not see themselves in it. This is a valid thing to feel, especially when you are a member of the public that was not consulted regarding what is being used to represent you. But when they voice this, they are criticized as being against unity.
And that is the dangerous rhetoric of … nationalism, I guess? That if you don’t align yourself with any and everything brought by private individuals or a government as definitions of our culture and identity, you are clearly against the ideals they claim to promote. That’s not how it works. If persons do not see themselves in a flag that, surprisingly, still boasts symbols of colonialism on it, then that is their right to feel and say so.
Public consultation. And actual actions behind words. That’s what I would have preferred to see regarding this matter. But don’t try to say that I do not support unity. I won’t tolerate that disrespect, especially not from any Johnny-come-lately who is doing what he does best: using emotional pressure points that he just discovered and actually does not care about to further his narcissistic manipulation of our democracy.
I wish everyone a pleasant, safe and enjoyable St. Martin’s Day and may we work collectively, in the spirit of collaboration and cooperation, to effect real unity and change for our little paradise in the Caribbean Sea.
Melissa D. Gumbs
Member of Parliament
PFP Faction Leader
Dear Chairman and Members of the SZW and KR Committees of the First and Second Chambers of the Dutch Parliament,
“Never waste a good crisis” is a saying attributed to Winston Churchill where he was referring to the founding of the United Nations which would never have happened without World War II.
In the domain of SZW and KR, I would like to assign the current benefits affair the role of “crisis” from which lessons could then be drawn for a less error- and fraud-prone future. I am thinking of the following.
Abolish (all) allowances and supplements, including those on reaching retirement age, and at the same time introduce basic income for all Dutch citizens whereby the basic income for minors will depend on their age.
So instead of all “rolls special” with variables like “age” and “how many children,” just one guaranteed and condition-free basic income.
And if we are going to simplify and standardize, then implement this measure immediately for the Caribbean Netherlands (i.e. Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba) and not just for the European Netherlands.
The advantage is obvious: no more fraud-sensitive information that could lead to wrongly or incompletely granted allowances or benefits and furthermore a huge control apparatus will be released because this guaranteed basic income simply applies to all Dutch citizens.
The question of whether working more also yields more – after all, I recently read in a newspaper that this self-evidence is somewhat undermined by the allowances – becomes clearly visible again. If one chooses to work (extra) for income, over and above the guaranteed basic income, one will always have more left over “below the line”. And that is fair and explainable.
Some calculations will undoubtedly have to be made, but I am convinced that a business case for the introduction of this policy will always be positive. A possible additional positive consequence could be that people would like to work more, which could eliminate a labor shortage.
I would like to see this proposal on the agenda of your meeting and then it is up to you to put the government on this revolutionary path.
Kind regards,
J.H.T. (Jan) Meijer
Dear Editor,
I quote a press release that appeared Monday afternoon 10/31/22:
“‘OM discontinues investigation ‘Aquamarine’ against lawyer due to (formal) errors.’
“Philipsburg--The Aquamarine investigation was launched in September 2016 and runs under the responsibility of the Central Team of the Prosecutor's Office of Curaçao, St. Maarten, Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba. The investigation was conducted by the Recherche Samenwerkings Team [Kingdom Detective Cooperation Team – Ed.] (RST). …
“The prosecution believes that the mistakes made by the Prosecutor’s Office, the RC cabinet and RST are so serious that the Prosecutor’s Office considers itself inadmissible in the further prosecution of (P.A.)B. The criminal case against B. has therefore been dismissed,” stated a press release from the OM/TBO on Monday. Unquote.
So in other words, has another one possibly gotten away with a big grin (and who knows how fat a bank account) because of failure and/or incompetence on the part of those we are asked to trust to make a difference in the level of integrity in St. Maarten? And, have we gotten the bill for this 6-year-long RST investigation? If the answer to both is “yes,” all I can say is: What a shame and what a waste!
Michael J. Ferrier
This letter is for government towards all ministers:
The neediest have high expectations there should be a food programme – help for the people – between November or December 2022 with this world price inflation.
I kept telling NA party members there is poverty on the island. The minimum wage and police salary are a shame.
It will be good and highly appreciated if Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs gives the needy some money or groceries soon.
Cuthbert Bannis
Dear Editor,
Just like the police officer when a person enters the political arena and is elected to office, that person becomes an open game. Hopefully, the reaction to that person’s behaviour is positive rather than otherwise. For the last twelve years, there is little that positive that can be said of those who occupied different governmental positions. It will take writing a book if I would have to specify all the not-so-nice moments in government since 10-10-’10, and I will only need half of a page to put the positive things about the barrage of governments since 10-10-’10 on paper.
Currently the government again is in some kind of a predicament. When I read and listen to the way our people in government go about the business of the people, it reminds me of when we used to play marbles as a youngster and we would have a “marble fight”.
Because I am convinced that everything that we go through in life is written in the Bible, I usually refer to the Bible for authenticity. In this case I found what I think can be a vital cause of what has been happening during the past twelve years in our governments, in Proverbs 11:13. Because of this I think I can candidly say that those who want their lives to display faithfulness and authenticity make choices based on what is true rather than what is expedient. Because it has been twelve years and all the heads and most of the members of the political parties have been involved in government since 10-10-’10, I feel that none of them can point a finger at the other.
The proof is in the pudding. So would make the excuse “you have to be among them to know what is going on”, but what about calling them out on it when you find out what is going on. Because of what has happened in the past and what is continuing to happen I believe that I can safely say that the receiver is just as bad as the thief. “Two peas in a pod”, or “six of one, half a dozen of the other”.
When I was growing up, I used to be a member of the Benevolent Improvement Association. (sister organization to the P.M.I.A.) and our motto was “Let decency be your guide”. I Googled the word “decency” which states “behaviour that conforms to accepted standards of morality or respectability”.
Russell Simmons
