St. Maarten Private Eye

I have no idea about the case against Geno Lawrenzi, the driver of the car, but I'll tell you what I think.

I think the fact there was only one ambulance on duty for the whole Dutch side at the time (shameful) and it took quite a while to get to Martin, plus the fact that despite pleading by Geno to the police officers on the scene to take Martin to the hospital, a 5 min ride for them, and their refusal (probably because they didn't want to 'bloody' their car up), plus the hospital leaving the guy in the waiting room without treatment while waiting for someone to show them insurance documents, kind of lead me to think that it will just disappear. There is no case against Geno except maybe reckless driving, because Martin apparently died of loss of blood and who's fault was that?

Some could blame Theo, the Commissioner who gets treatment in the US and is in charge of our' one' ambulance dept? The Police Force for not taking him to the hospital or the Justice Minister for not ensuring they have training to make such decisions. Or was it the Hospital? Just what is the policy there? Do you die in the foyer if you can't present your insurance card? Would the same treatment, or rather, lack of it, be given if it was a tourist, white person, someone local the staff knows, or was it just because he was Haitian and a garbage man?

All the news reports are posted, I guess it's up to you to make up your own mind what you think, I'd be interested to hear.

LH

I wonder if the police officers on duty that night were able to get any sleep afterwards...how in the world could they just have stood there for 45 minutes and let the poor man bleed?! If only they had acted timely, a life could have been saved!
And then compare this case with Heyliger's; who will probably make a declaration of his expenses in the USA...if he hasn't already.
Now, that will not fatten the coffers!
Govern will then be obliged to borrow money from the harbour -> a high-interest loan...and who will profit from that?
Oh well, it's a well-trodden path for the government...
By the bye, running with the hare and hunting with the hounds is not the most honorable thing a politician can do.

Well last I saw it was to go to court. What happen with that. I see what the end result with this poor man was, but what about court?

Actually, if the man were not hit this would have never happen. Put blame where blame belongs. God forbid this happen to anyone else. When did people stop being punished for their actions and blame it on someone else, and have no price to pay for a human life.I think the police needed to look into the history of the driver on the mainland also. I feel for this mans family.The person that hit him, was he a native of the island?

Pablo you are so right. The procedures is that police does not transport noone to a medical center if they cannot see if they has internal injuries ect ect. Police can lift up a victim and a broken ribs which they cannot see can pierce the lungs or heart and the person can die. This is one of the reasons they do not and are not allowed to do it. It is good to see that there is still people like you out there that do not just look for someone to blame but uses their common sense. Nowhere in the world do police transport injured victims, but i have realize that there are people in Sint Maarten that do not pass up the chance to attack the police even do they know that they are not to blame, because it is just the in thing in Sint Maarten.

If you like wasting your time on such nonsense, really, quite pathetic and I regret spending my time replying to it, but I will spare some because otherwise we will be accused of censoring. What lovefest exactly are you talking about? The fact one of the Today's reporters comes and comments on here is a lovefest? The fact that many here think the Today has moved forwards in bounds in the past few months?

Now, next time you comment, try dealing with the issue. Do you disagree that the Police and SMMC should not also have to give their testimony? Are you unconcerned about there being one ambulance on duty for the whole island? Do you think it's fine that we have no breathalizer tests on the island? What exactly is the point of your comment?

Go read about Trolls and Flamers.

If you think it would be different if it were a DH reporter or anyone else then I have to say it simply, an insult deserves one in response, you're a moron.

Flipper

The Daily Herald has long thought of itself as the king of the hill when it comes to print journalism. But Then Roger mostly retired and turned the reins over to the son in law and things quickly went down hill. The quality journalists have left and the paper now reports fluff and verbatim recordings of press confreneces.
The paper is now a reflection of it's publisher. The love fest comment is proof enough.
TDH used to be an ok paper now it's barley worth the price of admission. The Today has stepped up and is making efforts to report the news. It still has a long ways to go but it is now my first choice of papers

It's still the first choice of people on SXM and the Today STILL prints about 5000 papers less than the herald..STILL makes crucial mistakes and STILL struggles to verify some facts in their story. If you want to say the Today does a better job at sensation journalism, yes they do. The Herald plays it more careful. Why? Because as much as we want to bash TDH, they are smart enough to realise that SXM is a puny market, where everyone knows everyone and people's toes are much longer because we are so small. In other words, TDH turns a huge profit and keeps most of its advertisers because it refuses to setp on toes UNTIL it has all the facts from the relevant authorities. Which is the right way isn't it? Is there some softer reporting when they do have all the facts? Maybe. But can anyone say that's never the case at the Today? Didn't think so. The Today goes ahead full steam and publish stuff. What happens is you turn people off, they pull advertising and you'll never be able to catch the Herald in terms of influence or production. The Today's machinery is from the stone ages, the paper is dirty which makes the quality look like a cheap flyer. The Today is taking the same road as the now defunct Guardian (same owner too). In short time the paper will fold. And then what? We're gonna sit here and talk about how it it WAS? But TDH will still be here because they understand the economic involved. It's a whole other discussion topic, but I think journalism in the TRUE sense of the word, with all its principles, could never be practiced here on SXM. Sometime I think we forget the puniness of our coummity and the limits that comes with that. Concerning the quality of journalists, I agree TDH has slipped backwards from the Koelega's, Granger's, and Hokstam's.

Newspapers make mistakes, that's inherent to the business. But getting our facts wrong? Hmm, that happens too, in which case we publish a rectification.
Glad you noticed TDH is 'more careful' than Today.
Oh, also, there is a difference between circulation and quality. The Telegraaf has the largest circulation in the Netherlands but their financial pages are the only ones of high quality.
Writing to keep advertisers happy is a dead end street; you may as well ask GIS to fill all your pages.

O Psilos

That you didn't disagree with anything else in the post.

You are jumping to conclusions without knowing the facts, LOL. Let me just say this: I'd rather make waves than spend my time pleasing advertisers. If you want to wait for information from the authorities, you may have to wait a very long time. Im not into buying s.o. else's bullshit.
Why do you feel the need to write anonymous. You afraid or something?
O Psilos

O Psilos: "Why do you feel the need to write anonymous. You afraid or something?"

I would first like to make it clear that I am not the anonymous person O Psilos replied to. This is Anonymous Pablo responding to the above quote.

Posting anonymously is a safety precaution and your right to privacy. It’s not recommended to give out personal information on an online forum. It’s not recommended to state your full name, post your picture, address etc. on online forums. It’s advisable to use nicknames instead. If this forum did not allow this right to privacy, I am sure that most of us (including the site’s administrators) would not be posting.

Pablo

Sorry "Anonymous", your post just showed up on top of the huge spam list I was deleting one by one. I'll start deleting from the bottom next time.

It is so obvious that you guys really dont care about who really killed Martin Paredes as you have gone on and on stroking your own egos about the quality of papers.
Both papers could do with improvement. But back to the topic, if you are a co-worker or friend of the person driving the vehicle you are expected to be biased.
Geno Lewrenzi started a chain of events and Geno should be held accountable for his actions. I remember waiting four hours in an emergency room in the US until my insurance was verified. This type of thing happens all the time and to say because he was Haitian is passing the buck.
Geno under whatever he was under, caused that accident and he should be tried in court and not the court of public opinion. Nor the court of lets deflect from the issue and protect my friend.
Then we want to sit back and hit on politicians when we do the same crap as well and use these type of medium to sell our crap.

Get a grip. Where was this discussion a few months ago when the family needed support. Now that Geno L. may be in trouble this crap starts. .. We all got to pay the piper some time.

So don't bring up topics then allow yourself to get so easily distracted because you really don't care about the deceased. Just about spreading your own propaganda.

God Bless

I think you ought to look up the definition for propaganda to start with. You'll learn some interesting stuff, none of it related to the work daily newspapers do on this island.
As far as the Paredes case is concerned -- we will never be able to do anything right, because indeed a colleague is involved. Whatever we write will be viewed as biased, so we thread very careful here. If the case comes to court, we will deal with it like we deal with any other case.
But where do you get that we do not care about the deceased? That's a big statement, based on nothing. So I will respect it as your opinion.
From the way you write, I get that you are a member of the DP, or at least a supporter of their esteemed figureheads. These politicians are public figures and all their actions are open to public scrutiny. That's what we do. If you don't like the results, you are on your own.
And for Christ's sake, leave you God out of politics. That's all we need.
Peace.

O Psilos

I and others believe that when someone enters a hospital in vital need of life- saving treatment then the issue of insurance comes AFTERWARDS. It should be policy and it is a cost any decent society has to accept. What if it was you, unconcious arriving there, with the hospital or police unable to contact anyone who can bring your medical insurance for you? No, when it comes to life and death, treatment must be given in such cases.

Also, the question of Martin being denied treatment because he was Haitian is also very important, I do have to question if treatment would have been denied to a white person or tourist. I personnaly think there is a great deal of racisim against Haitians on the island, they are blamed for so many problems and so often treated badly and looked down upon by so many, yet the politicians that allowed so many immigrants to the island and failed to plan well get off scott free.

Geno may well have caused the chain of events and he should have his day in court. But there is much more to this story and if you think it all should be ignored then shame on you. Did you imagine that is was a family member of yours? That sat on the road bleeding to death for almost an hour waiting for the ONLY ambulance on the island, and then died in the hospital while awaiting insurance to be verified? You are the one who needs to get a grip pal.

Those issues need to be addressed, as does the failure of the hospital to give a report to the prosecutor that was requested. Either that or the prosecutor is lying about not getting it. These things need to be addressed too. I have no problem with Geno facing charges, but if he is charged for Martin's death then there is a problem here if the SMMC and Police are not up there on the stand too. It's a shame of course that the island can't afford breathalizer tests for accidents like this, they cost a few bucks by the way. Why don't we have them? Another issue that needs to be addressed.

As for a few months ago. Did you read this link?. It was discussed before. Also, anyone can make comments, they can even write blogs if they want to, because one person may say something it doesn't mean everyone else agrees or thinks the same thing.

Who are you saying doesn't care about the deceased? Me? If you look back up the comments you will see that a troll posted a stupid comment about newspapers that I responded to, it was certainly not my intention to go off topic. I notice now below a comment about the cricket children who were detained. (Banging head against screen).

I would like to point out that any user can write an opinion or blog post. Just sign in and post it on a page, one of the editors will take care of the rest. If there is an issue that bothers you or that you have an opinion about or want to discuss, sign in and write it up. This will be even easier when the upgrades happen, something we are still working on but slow because we get so few donations.

Flipper

Unbelievable. You mean to tell me the youths who were detained by immigration, who were REPRESENTING St. Maarten were ILLEGAL? Don't players need to be legal to play? In baseball, NO ONE can play unless they are legally registered on the island. If that is not the case in cricket, don't you think our police commissioner who is also the president of the cricket association would know that those youths were not legal and needed documents to travel? This is incredible to me. Shame on the police commissioner. I feel for the youth, but I put shame on the people organizing such a trip!

sxmalize

How ironic.
Try placing "Pablo" on the filter's allow list.

(Pablo, we are working on upgrding the site, but these things happen. Anonymous comments are published by an editor and they appear in a list, we get many that are spam and they have to be deleted one by one. I think Dutchess was deleting from the top and working fast because at the time there were many that needed deleting. You just happened to post at that time and it appeared at the top.

You could also just create a user id, all it takes is an email address which can be easily opened at yahoo or elsewhere if you don't want to use your own. Your comments will then appear straight away. - Flipper