MARIGOT/PHILIPSBURG: — Thinking about what and who stood out during the year 2018 was not at all challenging because on both sides of the island politicians and elected officials have failed the people of St. Maarten/ St. Martin when they are at their lowest.
Empty promises manifested itself more than ever during the year 2018, incompetence from elected officials glared in the face of everyone. Politicians on the Dutch part of the island made so many empty promises during the campaign for the February 2018 snap elections, one being that they will ensure the people get the much-needed financial assistance from the Netherlands after the passing of hurricane Irma and Maria. To date, the money that was made available thru the World Bank has not reached the people. Projects such as the repairs of schools on a standstill, the upgrading of the Hurricane Shelters is on hold, the Library was forced to close its doors due to the negligence of the Leona Marlin Cabinet.
Many people are still without roofs on their homes even though St. Maarten/ St. Martin is in the hurricane belt and every year persons living here have to live in fear not knowing if the island will be struck again. During the 2018 hurricane season shelters were not available in the event of a disaster.
On the French side, protesters took to the streets in Sandy Ground when it became unbearable with the recovery, cost of living and lack of employment. Besides that, the saga at SEMSAMAR took center stage for weeks.
Despite the failures from elected officials the people of St. Maarten and those that are in key positions did not allow the shortcomings from Government to stop them from working and showcasing the island. The St. Maarten Ports did an excellent job by getting cruise passengers back to the island. The Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE) did their best to reopen the airport and to work as hard as they could to keep the airport open and welcoming airlines back to the island even though they worked for over a year under tents. Today, passengers can travel in some comfort as they are now back in the Terminal Building even though it is still under reconstruction.
The Dutch side Government again failed the management and staff of PJIAE by not providing them with the much-needed guarantee letter that would have allowed them access to the insurance money that is now held by the creditors. While things may look bright from the outside PJIAE is still scrambling to find money to continue the rebuilding process. The jobs of the workers of Postal Services St. Maarten are still uncertain as a financial injection has not been provided by Government.
Businesses are returning to normal, almost every day a new store, restaurant or other businesses are reopening their doors, that in itself shows that St. Maarten/ St. Martin and its people are resilient, and they will do whatever it takes to rebuild their island to that number one tourist destination it once was.
Thus far more than $200 M in funds has been transferred to Government by the World Bank Trust Fund but to date, Prime Minister Romeo Marlin has proven not to be capable of getting the projects moving. It takes a blind man to see that her priority over the past months has been the focus on the victimization of civil servants and meddling in the portfolio of her colleague Ministers. PM Romeo Marlin has been instructing her departments within the Ministry of General Affairs to victimize certain individuals and when her Secretary General of General Affairs refused to cooperate with her, he too became a victim and was labeled by PM Romeo Marlin as a “Sarah Boy” who got to go!! SMN News in its research can name numerous examples of “abuse of power” by the PM, which is not conducive to the development and rebuilding of the Country in these critical times.
To name a few, behind the scene PM Romeo Marlin has been boycotting the Minister of VROMI, Miklos Giterson, forcing him to resign due to his ongoing criminal investigation for DUI, but on the other hand the PM is holding hands with Minister Emil Lee with his fraudulent actions with regards to the hiring of a Public Adjuster Smith Oorloff & Associates and negotiating with them sending proposals to his private home address which was highlighted by SMN News a few months ago. Henderson Insurances that as hired by the former Council of Ministers is taking government to court. This case is expected to be before the court in January/February 2019 and SMN News will be monitoring the developments of highway fraud by Minister Emil Lee very closely.
It is evident that PM Marlin Romeo and the present Council of Ministers are too inexperience or rather incompetent to carry out the task that is required of them, but yet the Romeo Marlin refuses to seek help and assistance from her seasoned coalition partners in Parliament. If the development continues in this way, then the people of St. Maarten could be in for some trouble as Government is not living up to its promises as outlined in the Governing Program 2018-2022 and this will be very sad for the development of the country in maintaining its position as the premier hub in the Eastern Caribbean.
Government-owned companies such as GEBE, PJIAE, and the Harbor Holding Company are in dire financial needs and the Leona Marlin Cabinet to date did not make a move in forthcoming with solutions to assist these Government owned companies who together are good for over a few billion dollars in assets, not to mention the number of families who are working for these companies and have mortgages to pay. It is clear that the Council of Minister do not have a vision that if these companies fail, St. Maarten too will fail as tourism is the main pillar of our Economy.
With December 26th, 2018, boxing day was the busiest day for tourism for the year 2018, it is clear that something has to be done to assist our Government owned companies or else all of us are doomed to fail. Over the past weeks and months there have been rumors of Government falling, but it is evident that the Leona Marlin Cabinet cannot handle the task on hand and shuffling must be done or else it will be left up to the Parliamentarians to take the bull by the horn, in the interest of the people of St. Maarten and send home the Leona Marlin Cabinet who is not living up to the expectations of the people of St. Maarten. Already the Dutch made it clear that St. Maarten Government lacks vision and experience with the rebuilding of the island.
Let us not take a blind eye to what happened over the past few days in Guyana whereby a motion of no confidence was tabled and pass against the sitting coalition due to their performance is not helping the people of that country which is by far what is happening on St. Maarten as blue seas of tarpaulins are still visible on the homes of many families who are even jobless and do not know what tomorrow will bring.
As for the French side, the Sandy Ground residents already showed interest in the “green vests” in Paris that wreaked havoc over there due to high fuel prices.
Residents of St. Martin already expressed their views about the current administration and even the French President Emmanuel Macron made it abundantly clear that he was not at all happy with the slow progress St. Martin is making when it comes to the recovery. Certainly, if politicians that were duly elected by the people of St. Martin/ St. Maarten does not take the bull by its horns and do what is necessary for the rebuilding of the island while providing jobs for residents here then it is clear that those in Europe will take over.
In the meantime, the people of this great island need to be commended for their efforts in rebuilding and recovering from the worst hurricane ever in this region. It is our hope that they will all continue on the same path as their country do need everyone at this time. With that our team at SMN News wishes each and everyone a Happy and Healthy 2019.
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Source: St. Martin News Network http://www.smn-news.com/st-maarten-st-martin-news/30907-smn-news-persons-of-the-year-we-are-a-resilient-and-strong-people-politicians-have-failed-miserably.html
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