You are hereBlogs / Hady Nufyet's blog / Are you happy with the direction and drivers?
Are you happy with the direction and drivers?
Do you trust our politicians to do what's best for the island when it comes to new constitutional status? Do you think the new status they appear to be guiding us towards is the best thing for the island, or would you prefer Higher Supervision to straighten the mess out first? Do you feel some envy or concern that maybe the BES islands have made the better choice?
The NA are asking for a meeting so we can find out what's going on with govt, who's with who and what's what. The only voice calling out for intervention is Leopold James. All good basis for a discussion dontcha think?
Clarity needed on support for Island Council says NA - 24th November 2008
Letter to Mr. Franklyn RICHARDS,LL.M., Lt-Governor St. Maarten, - 21st November 2008
SXM PE Blog Post - Is SXM Ready - 2nd November 2008
Click here to Read More
____________________________________________________________
flipper
why can't we have a new poll for this subject? the NA passed a motion of no confidence against maria buncamper some time ago, i think with the recent display of comedy titled 'sxm govt fallen', the readers/writers should be able to pass our own vote of no confidence on all of them.
First of all, welcome Wisdom and Youth to SXM PE, you write well and your input is very much welcomed. New poll added.
Flipper
Might bring a few smiles :)
The NA has called for a meeting about the status of govt and the signatures. Why is this all still murky and why hasn't the DP said anything about it yet?
Round up of most recent news below
Debt relief can start as early as December, says Minister - 26th November 2008
Sarah shows up hour late, has steering group waiting - 26th November 2008
Going Dutch - 26th November 2008
Phased dismantling starts on July 1, 2009 for St. Maarten - 26th November 2008
Political steering group meeting holds for Sarah - 25th November 2008
Decision list on dismantling finally signed on Tuesday - 25th November 2008
Island Council Meeting Called on Signatures. - 26th November 2008
Closer ties with the EU will not only make it easier to market SXM as a Caribbean Vacation destination, but also open the doors to EU funding to develop it. Our hotel and service standards would be upgraded and money would be available for training programs. For everything that needed to be bought up to EU standards, money would very likely be made available.
St Maarten needs to diversify it's tourist base, it needs to put some roots down in Europe and closer ties would do a great deal to enable that. There are so many pros for staying close to the EU and Holland, the biggest cons against are the ones that can be used to toy with peoples emotions, national pride, colonialism etc.
I think SXM is making a big mistake, I would feel so much safer, economically and physically, plus more optimistic for the island's future living under EU standards of law and governance than those of our politicians. Is the desire to be able to say "Country St. Maarten" that great to ignore practical and logical alternatives?
Flipper
1. Yes.
2. Yes its the best thing, no higher supervision (I think SXMPE should really do an indepth piece about how this option would cut our throats instead of talking about it like some salvation. Educate yourself)
3. No. Saba and Statia will come to regret it. Remember who told you that first.
4. Tirseome discussion. The Alliance is a joke. Talking about good governance while they were looking to form government with a corrupt crook! Why no blog post on that?!
JB
I think I'm gonna start a blog post. Need some balance here.
Hey Baptiste,
Please clarify why the BES islands will "come to regret" becoming a municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. You think they’ll regret:
- An upgraded Health Care system
- An upgraded Social Welfare system
- An upgraded Educational system, including subsidized access to higher education
- An upgraded Police Force
- Access to an Ombudsman
Just to name a few areas of improvement. And like Obama said today: “If we are going to make the investments we need, we also have to be willing to shed the spending that we don't need”, basically saying that the residents of the BES will be faced with stricter tax compliancy, in order to facilitate the upgrades in their quality of life.
That basic necessity is what lacks on St. Maarten Baptiste, because your DP government overspends on stuff we don’t need and underspends in areas that we do need.
Today there was another article in the paper, can't recall which one right now, reporting on remaining connected closely with the EU and the moneys which would be available. I for one think the island is being driven in the wrong direction by politicians who want more power, using the 'colonial' and 'pride' arguments to push their cause. I really don't think the matter has been discussed on an island wide open basis nor have all the options, pros and cons been weighed.
Obviously you disagree. Time will tell about Saba, Statia and Bonaire, so maybe one day they have to accept Gay Marriages, an argument that is so trivial and far from real issues that will impact the islands, but used often to turn people against closer ties. By all means, create a sign in name/alias and post a blog, you will have to write it on a page, but I'll make sure it gets posted. Just be prepared for people to debate and counter your opinions. It's part of blogging :)
FLipper
I'm sxm living in Holland, I think a good example of going independent is Suriname.
On 25 November 1975 they went independent and things got worst there money devalue dated and 20 to 35 precent of the population immigrated to Holland. And thing got more corrupted until Bouterse took over also that didn't go to well.
I think things can only get better under supervision from Holland think about
Health Care system every body gets the same care rich or poor
Social Welfare system if you get laid of in Holland you get 80 procent of your salary for a certain amount of time. Probably will not be the same it can only get better.
Studiefinanciering basis and aanvullend you don't have to pay back. This example i can reflect in on my self i did my studies via Holland Studiefinanciering in witch i got more money and never had to pay back any thing, while others of my class did it via sxm, have a loan from the government for thousands and are still paying.
How worst can it get under supervision from Holland if the benefits are the same or almost the same Holland thing can only get better
Hady,
Maybe SXMPE can initiate a petition drive to support Higher Supervision to be imposed on St. Maarten's current (lack of proper) Government?
It will also be interesting to measure how many residents are indeed for or against such a call.
Although I don't regularly agree with Leopold, I must say that he's making valid points in his letters lately. But if a petition would come from him (his association), it would be met with sarcasm and not taken seriously, in my opinion. So maybe SXMPE can step up to the plate?
I agree, I don't always agree with him, though I think that's more about the language he uses and his apparent desire to have first and second class citizens, re the indigenous matter. But he is the only one speaking up on this matter right now and he is mostly on target.
I think it's more than just having higher supervision. I think the various options for our new status need to be fully discussed, Ultra Peripheral Status, Overseas Territory, even Municipality like the BES islands, needs to be fully looked at and the pros and cons evaluated. None of our politicians want that, they have their ideas on what they want and will use nationalist and pride arguments to tap into emotions of people. Those 'colonialist' Dutch, you know?
I would support higher supervision only if there was a clear plan on this issue, if there was widespread political and govt structural reform. The people need to be informed, educated and included in the process and I don't see this at all right now. Just the usual top nobs holding their meetings and pushing their agendas, which I don't think are in the peoples best interest, we all know that's not their forte.
I think it needs a few big names to come forward and speak up about it. Hopefully in the next week or so we will have a paypal account back up on here, maybe we can raise some money to run some ads in the papers and maybe in Holland too? But we need a solid team of local people behind it and they need to have a uniform message.
One thing that helps us is that Dutch politicians are reading SXM PE, so feel free to tell them what you think :)
Flipper
Let me star by saying that my subject is just voicing my Love for my Island and my Hate for the people we elected to run the island.
I read most of the comments and I agreed with the comment made by Flipper, we the SXM people have to stop seeing higher supervision as a bad thing. We should look at it from a different side; if the SXM government was doing such a fantastic job then we wouldn’t need higher supervision. I am right or am I wrong??
I think the SXM people have to start seeing the bigger picture, let me use the following example;
If you had let’s say 100 dollars and you lend/ give it to one of your comrades because of the agreement you’ll ever made that you would help him out and he would pay you back in due time. But as time moved on you noticed that your comrade was looking healthy and enjoying life, while his family was looking more and more famished. You as the money giver would at a certain point in time pull your comrade aside and explain the money you are lending/ giving him is for the benefit of his family and himself and not for him to squander and spend on things which don’t benefit his family or himself. With that being said as a normal person in the future you would be more cautious about lending your comrade money? But as a decent human being you wouldn’t want to see his family starve of hunger and would continue lending him money but this time with some strings attached in the form of higher supervision on your part because you are wanting to know that your money is being used for beneficial purpose.
Please forgive my very stupid example but I think certain politicians need to have higher supervision explained to them in such a manner. Of course it is not nice to have someone tell you how to spend your money but if you are receiving money from someone and in that same manner acquiring debt while at it of course I would be happy if someone can guide me and maybe in the same time I can learn a thing or two while in the process.
SXM government should be more open towards Holland, they should enlighten the public on certain positive points from Holland and not only the negative to be honest SXM/ N.A. they can learn quite a lot form Holland. I live in Europe and imagine if other European countries which are much bigger than Holland are looking towards them for advice on education, drug abuse, teenage pregnancy and the list goes on, but what I find so fascinating is the fact that from a survey taken from certain major European countries Holland come out top of the list what education concerns. Now you tell me SXM government is Holland as bad as you paint it to be?
Enough said SXM people educate yourself and learn from the higher supervision guys you would be much better off than you are the moment and your eye’s would be open on how to work properly!