‘Country St. Maarten Status’, NOT about St. Martiners.
On Thursday, last September, 3, leader of the St. Maarten Government, Commissioner William MARLIN was guest of the midday program of Lloyd RICHARDSON.
The interview focused on many of the challenges facing St. Maarten, as well as the other islands of the Netherlands Antilles obtaining the statuses championed for by the islands political leaders.
In this interview as usual, Commissioner William MARLIN easily brushed aside public statements made by Dutch Parliamentarians and others on the island with a dissenting take on the matter of constitutional matters affecting the island and thus affecting the future of the people for generations to come.
Despite efforts of host Lloyd RICHARDSON to prevent the caller, Mr. Eldrige van PUTTEN from getting his point across, this dispute clearly exposed the fact that successive Governments on St. Maarten are very afraid to allow for a ratification to take place on the island.
Commissioner MARLIN clearly is no different in this aspect as well, because it is clear that he dreads allowing for a ratification of the results of the negotiations.
From all indications, popular interest for so called ‘Country St. Maarten’ is all but non-existent, for the main reason that the public has no trust in the local politicians and feel deceived by them to believe in a ‘status change’.
In addition, according to Mr. VAN PUTTEN, there are taped statements made by Mr. MARLIN during the call-in program ‘ONLINE’, that at the end of the negotiations on constitutional matters, the people would be given the opportunity to have their final say.
Since Mr. MARLIN now denies ever having said that, it is time for the tape to be replayed.
Also, during the interview, Mr. MARLIN did not even mention the very existence of Antillean people, nor of native-indigenous St. Martiners residing on the island.
Clearly, like most other politicians, he deliberately steers away from addressing, not only their existence, but consequently their human- and ancestral rights as well.
The more Mr. MARLIN tries to defend his ‘quest’ for ‘Country St. Maarten status’ the more in fact he reveals that it is purely about more power for politicians, rights of immigrants, infra-structure, but that it has absolutely nothing to do with the rights of the St. Martin people and other Antilleans to exist in their own country.
That in return for their hospitality which was why the name ‘Friendly-island’ came about.
In other words, hostility, denial and rejection of St. Mariners have been the price and result for being hospitable.
Instead of standing up for the sacrifices made by the people, the only justification and argument for Mr. William MARLIN to ‘break away’ from ‘Curacao’ is the need for more power for St. Maarten politicians, nice government buildings, great infra-structure and not to forget the rights of illegal immigrants and their children.
In the meantime, that St. Martiners are being outnumbered, marginalized and threatened with genocide by substitution, seems to be of absolutely no concern to him ‘en route’ to ‘Country St. Maarten’.
However, from many indications, it appears that even within the NA and the DP as well, there is a growing concern that being ‘politically correct’ by mainly catering towards the large numbers of immigrants, will happen at the expense of the St. Martin people.
The key question therefore is ;’When will ‘party-loyalists’ stand up to their party leadership and say.
Enough is enough, we are party loyalists, but St. Martin and its people must come first if we are to build a country called ST.MAARTEN.
Clearly, an eventual confrontation based on this very fundamental issue, is a matter of time.
The earlier, the politicians on both sides of this island realize that there is a ‘prize’ for betrayal of one’s people, the easier it will be to preserve the ‘Friendly island’ and to prevent the in-evitable.
Leopold James
President SNBF & L'Esprit de Concordia
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