Hypocrisy

Dear Editor,

What hypocrisy on our island St. Maarten. When the NA Government in 2010 mentioned the possibility of a 1 percent increase in the turnover tax there was a loud outcry. The SHTA, the Chamber of Commerce and the labor Unions were the loudest objectors to it. Some of the members of the aforementioned organizations even said, ‘over my dead body there will be no increase in the turnover tax.”

It wasn’t a year later a government led by the UP increased the turnover tax by 2 percent. There was absolutely no outcry from the SHTA, the Chamber of Commerce and the labor unions.

The Causeway was built by Theo Heyliger in a non-transparent manner. Up until today the citizens of this island do not know how much it cost the taxpayers to build it. It was a project that killed many species of fishes and destroyed many batches of mangroves in the Simpson Bay Lagoon; it was also a project that caused an increase in the cost of living to all persons living on the island.

To pay for the construction of the Causeway the thru-port fee on containers and gasoline was increased. Based on how this project went down one would have expected an outcry from the SHTA, the Nature Foundation and the rest of the organizations, but their silence was deafening. What a shame.

Now here again we have the “Belair Project” that is being brought to the island by the NA. A project that is good for the people of this island, a project that will grow the economy, a project that will create jobs, a project that will bring money into the coffers of the country, a project that will bring tourists form a new market to the island.

China today has the second largest economy in the world. Millions of well off to do Chinese tourists travel yearly abroad. One will tend to believe that any normal thinking person who has the wellbeing of this island and its people at heart will grab such a project for the island with open arms, but that doesn’t seem to be so for certain groups and organizations on this island.

These groups and organizations are leaving no stone unturned to stop this project from coming to St. Maarten. And then you ask yourself why? Is it because this project is being brought to St Maarten by the National Alliance and these groups and organizations believe that such a project should only be brought to the island by the United People’s party to whom they are apparently subservient. Their action to stop this project is shameful and disgusting.

Voters of this island please pay keen attention; the National Alliance has always governed with the needs of the people of this country as a priority. Do not allow the so called “elite” to take that away from you.

Todd M. Peterson