USM President blasts Dutch TV documentary for stereotypes | THE DAILY HERALD

 

POND ISLAND–University of St. Martin (USM) President Antonio Carmona Báez has dismissed Dutch television presenter Jeroen Pauw’s 45-minute documentary on St. Maarten’s post-hurricane recovery efforts aired on NOS/NPO in the Netherlands on Monday evening.

  Báez, a social scientist, said the “documentary only reinforced stereotypes of the helpless and weak St. Maarteners who are not able to fend for themselves and must depend on the colonial powers to save the country because the government is corrupt.”

  “I spent an hour being interviewed and prepped by the crewmembers on Saturday, January 26. Pauw finally came by to USM’s campus on his last evening, Thursday, the 31st, to interview me and our students of education, with whom he talked for a good 20 minutes. Somehow, our stories did not fit into his prefabricated narrative of victimhood,” Báez said.

  Pauw and his crew found their way to USM, but consciously chose to censor any voices from the students, faculty or staff.

  While being prepped a week before Pauw’s arrival, Báez was instructed to give a positive story about recovery efforts and asked to identify a student who might want to be briefly interviewed. On Monday Báez said he had received a confusing message from Pauw’s assistant, Marjolein Bax, stating that they had no more space and that the themes did not fit into their story.

  “That’s a pity, because I wanted the Netherlands to know that in St. Maarten, we have strong, hardworking people who study to make a difference for their fellow countrymen and future generations. We have teachers, scientists, engineers, planners and architects with opinions,” he said.

  USM was alerted to the Dutch television presenter’s visit weeks ahead of time and for a moment it looked like NOS was interested in getting a balanced view on what has happened to the island since recovery efforts began in September 2017. However, not a single expert or scientist from St. Maarten was interviewed.

  “Instead, Pauw insisted on infantilising indigent victims, making a caricature of how they deal with their precarious housing. The only experts were white Dutch people. Black St. Martiners were the victims, the sad, the helpless,” Carmona stated.

  Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin was also put under a humiliating spotlight, as she was asked to talk mostly about her emotions. Later, Pauw asked the Prime Minister, “Is 500 million euros too much for your government to handle?” and “Do you think it is a pity that the money went to the World Bank and not directly to you?”

  As soon as there was footage of the Government Building, Pauw began to talk about corruption. His only reliable source was Frans Weekers, who assured Dutch viewers that corruption is alive and well in St. Maarten.

  Meanwhile, current St. Maarten representative to the World Bank Marcel Gumbs only got to talk about his need to go see a Dutch psychologist, it was stated in a USM press release. 

  The documentary mentioned that there was a lack of skilled construction workers, but nothing was stated about the recent (then upcoming) graduation of certified construction workers trained by the World Bank-funded training programme at National Institute of Professional Advancement (NIPA) – another good news story that would have portrayed empowerment instead of victimhood.

  “In Dutch media it is commonplace to make the Caribbean part of the Kingdom synonymous with corruption and helplessness. This documentary feeds into the already-existing prejudices. It is distasteful, colonial and borders on racism,” Báez said.

Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/85181-usm-president-blasts-dutch-tv-documentary-for-stereotypes

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