While the contents of the article might be shocking to many, if not most of the politicians of the 'Friendly-island', we can assure you that most local St. Martiners, Antilleans and other law-abiding residents of the island, very much support your statements and you obvious concern for the best interest of the PEOPLE of the island.
And while, as we have shared with the Dutch Government and others so many times in the past, there are many legitimate reasons why most of the people are happy with the concerns expressed by members of the Second Chamber, for now the following will suffice.
There is absolutely no trust and confidence in the current political leadership and culture of St. Maarten, despite some rhetoric and 'window-dressing' and 'here and there'.
Fact of the matter is, that the political culture of self-enrichment first, croonyism, dis-respect, disregard for proper and transparent Government is too much part of the 'psyche' of the current 'body politic' on the island; it is almost 'genetically ingrained'.
We have therefore always stated, that even if the Dutch Government or others would 'fall' for the 'tricks' of the St. Maarten Government and grant them 'Country status',WITHOUT conditions or guarantees, we would morally NEVER accept such anyway.
At best, we would do such 'under protest' not only to the Kingdom Government, but to all other relevant regional and international organizations well.
Our reason is clear and based on the reality of ;'who feels, it knows it' and certainly, we the native-St. Martin and Antillean residents and other law-abiding residents have been feeling 'it' for decades, being marginalized, betrayed and allowed to be culturally replaced by others flooding the island in multitudes and transforming the island into a 'Banana-republic' within the Kingdom.
Consequently, a 'New Order' ('Country St. Maarten') is being created, whereby the natives have to contend with the importation of immigrants with a mentality of 'lawlessness', with no-one to turn to for help.
In ending, we wish you a very happy Kingdom-Day, 2008 and we look forward co-operating with you to be able to make our contribution to making St. Maarten a worthy partner within the Kingdom and a society in which law & order, ancestral civic rights and human-rights for all in general will prevail and where finally the foundation will be laid for a new generation of respectful young political leaders.
Thank you for your concern and may God bless you,
--
Leopold James
President SNBF & L'Esprit de Concordia
