St. Maarten Private Eye

Of course we are in the top 10, that sounds good, but what they are really saying is that we are in the Top 10 most disastrous overbuilt, overpolluted , crime ridden, laudering money for Terrorism, unbearable roads,. iInfrastructure was never planned because the greed of overbuilding and pay offs were too important(where else do they have a dump smack center of tyhe Capitol city)? , nowhere, so don't get all excited as being in the top 10 most likely Islands not to visit or live is Sint Maarten is what they are really meaning. The Island charm has gone and shall never be regained unless we have a category 6 hurricane, too bad that something like that would have to happen, as all of the politicians including the Governor would be moving to Holland but wouldn';t it be ironic if Holland decided they didn;t want anymore Antilleans, as they have that attidtude now. Country Status looks far away, think of it, do you really think the Dutch are going to allow the Islander of Color rule,.with the bad record they have? Remember the people of color were slaves to the White Dutch and I am sure it will still remain that way, it is just the pay is higher and they learned how to be thiefs from the White man ie Claude Wathey is one good example.

I take offence with your statement that the Dutch government will not give self governance to our people of color. I am quite tired of racism played out in all fields and levels with serious issues on sxm. I am tired of the racism card period! and that includes the racist card played out in US politics as well.
Lets look at the serious issues here: The Netherlands gave independance to Suriname, a country of multiple colors and look what the world got: Bouterse who killed off many opponents and the country today is still reeling back from his milatary rule today with court cases against people from his cabinet.
The Netherlands gave independance to Indonesia and look what the world got: a country today poverty stricken, a country considered harboring muslim fundamental terrorists and maybe having training camps for Al Queada. A country considered dangerous for travelors as a nightclub was bombed sometime ago killing US, European and Australian tourists.
You should be looking at the record SXM has for running our own governing affairs, our political maturity of the people, our level of qualifications of our people who can hold a high profile job and do his/her work well. Please do not bring racism into an issue that is irreleveant, it is ignorant and a easy excuse of keeping our people down, meaning the people will never reach for the sky in education or our political figures will never give proper account of managing the peoples bussiness like they should, it is easier to just play the racism card and look the other way -away from the real truth.

No one is playing the race card. Read what you have written and the conclusion is that if we have independence from the Dutch then we are headed for disaster, such as Indonesia and Suriname, but frankly I have been to both places and actually Suriname is safer than Sint Maarten and then you state that Indonesia trains terrorists well have you read the paper lately, Sint Maarten is known for funding terrorism. Also realize that Sint Maarten has over 103 Nationalitys and Cultures and that 62% of the voters are not born locals, so frankly you are in the minority and talk about politicians, well most of them are currupt and transparent, so relax the Dutch will make the final decision and we will all have to live with that.

We should be so lucky as to have a leader such as His Excellency President Venetian of Suriname. He is an honorable man.

You are unbelievable. To write, that we are doomed if Holland gives independence like Suriname and Indonesia. You must be some dutch convert without character and sense of identity.

Fact is, there is a mess here, but you know who is to blame, everyone who lives here first and Holland close behind because they turned a blind eye for years and allowed it to happen. These stories mentioned in the WODC report stem back from the early 70's just ask anyone who lived here then.

Today, this report, that was filled with crap, theories, fiction and rumors rather than fact, is now being used as the new stick to beat us with. Aren't we all sick of that by now?

Sxm'ners (anybody you loves sxm) want just a few things, like safety, prosperity and a good future. Is Holland bringing this to the table? No, nor will they, they are just trying to keep face in the world because their back yard seems to be in a mess, so I am for sure not waiting for them to do anything.

We have been and are on our own, so we need everyone to roll up their sleaves and solve the problems we face together. But you know what, blaming the ones who actually sacrifice themselves for public office isnt the way to go either. You want to make a change? Start at home and in your neighborhood and then go on a list after you have been succesfull in your circle.

The Patriot

I do believe some words have been read or misinterpreted wrongly on this thread. While Patriot is correct to state that everyone and Holland is responsible, he states not to blame the few that take up public office. I totally disagree with that statement. Our elected officials are there to serve the people to the best of the peoples interest. If one goes back to the first post to the top of this page, the writer was trying to argue that the color of the peoples skin is not the issue rather their competence is. Indonesia and Suriname were in a better position to assume independance than St.maarten and a mess was made of both countries.
While Suriname is a stable country at the moment, it was not so in the late 70's and early 80's. Many Surinamers left the country to Holland by the thousands back then.
Infact, many were using the Netherlands Antilles as a stepping stone to the Netherlands up untill recently (maybe this is still going on) the people that had a Suriname passport would come to SXM, work for 5 years and get a Dutch passport and immeditaly leave to the Netherlands.
Indonesia is in turmoil. So the arguments were more about how prepared we are for independance, are we prepared to take care of our pension for the elderly? or medical insurance? free education for all children? are we prepared to run this island efficiantly? can our boys and girls in blue guarantee our safety for us and our visitors? Do we have educated and competent people leading us into the big world?
I do believe that Holland will never grant independance based on the United States will put pressure on them to make sure that these islands will not become a threat to their national security, and than means influence from China, from Taiwan, from Venezuela, even from Cuba. Our island would be open to more corruption with independance, for sure in the beginning. The islands people and leaders have to mature a whole lot before any type of independance is granted.
Listen to Duncan, he knows what he is saying, I doubt if the islands politicians are listening to him though.

I don't think you can compare the level of "terrorist funding" in St. Maarten to that in Indonesia. yes, i know we are a smaller place, but even by virtue of a percentage or adjusted scale, until you start pointing out the training facilitites or public calls for Jihad, then I'll put more weight to your argument.
Oh btw....i LOVE this island. Greatest place on the planet...and yes...it STILL is, and i;ve traveled quite a bit(47 countries to date), and no I am NOT "local"...
have a great thanksgiving to you all