A call to arms
Dear Editor,
PM Marlin travelled to Holland Tuesday for meetings with Minister Plasterk and others seeking an acceptable resolution to the Integrity Chamber debacle. In a truly sovereign state this would have been a bilateral meeting where both parties would try to meet each other halfway and ultimately produce a joint result to an old unnecessary and bad law.
But as has been clear forever even before 10-10-10 the Dutchman is hell bent on having everything his way or else there are and never were negotiations because it always ended up you do as we want or an instruction or higher supervision follow. When we do agree on the formation of any supervisory body it is always one member for the Dutch government one for the Kingdom government and one for St. Maarten. So in effect two seats for the Netherlands as there can democratically be no Kingdom government without a Kingdom Parliament.
They can’t be allowed to do as if they represent us while we don’t participate in their election and even if we wanted to would have to live in the Netherlands for at least ten years. The PM is on the right path; we do have enough checks and balances to deal with our challenges; moreover the judicial system is functioning quite well as can be deduced from the many reports on incarcerations and investigations.
All cabinets since 10-10-10 are culpable and should unite to stand up once and for all for St. Maarten. Be it the DP led government the UP led government or the NA led government all have sat by and accepted a slotverklaring (final declaration) that was etched to promised debt relief that never came; but the Dutch guarded their right to impose on our country not to mention the unending negative utterances and press out of the Netherlands. I am appealing to our elected officials to unite and mobilize our people; we can’t continue to allow a hostile foreign power to dictate to us while not contributing a dime to our budget and development.
Parliament should call a plenary session to also inform the colonial master that we no longer will honor the slotverklaring as they failed cunningly to meet their obligation to us. It is the strangest construction I have ever seen or read about where a country that raises its own revenues with its own economy and culture is forced to accept instructions on priorities and what is important for a country from outsiders who in most cases don’t know where St. Maarten is located.
I am appealing to St. Maarteners from all walks of life to shut this country down if they insist on an instruction or implementing the super civil servant as quartermaster. It is time we stop making appeasement of the Dutch our main concern and do what we see as in the best interest of St. Maarten.
If you take a look at what they are doing in Bonaire and Statia you would agree we can’t afford this take over which sidelines locals for European Dutch. I am pleading and begging St. Maarteners to hit the streets in support of PM Marlin and shut this country down if they insist on having their way. Our civil servants should also refuse to cooperate with the Dutch who declared us all incompetent and corrupt. It’s time to take a stand to protect our country and represent our people against all enemies.
Elton Jones
