On Thursday, November 13, 2008, the following headline appeared in the Daily Herald; 'Exco members move, will resign'.
The article was illustrated with a picture of an assistant of Commissioner Maria BUNCAMPER- MOLANUS with 'moving boxes'.
It was not so much the 'will resign' part of the headline that caught our serious attention, but the information about the 'moving out of documents out of their offices'.
We would like to believe that living in a state of law, the public has the right to know the answers to the following and possibly other relevant questions.
It should not be taken for granted that the general public knows whether or not these actions represent 'standard operating procedures' as part of good governance, so no-one should not get upset about the interest to 'be informed' by the proper authorities.
Also, in looking forward to your answer, we do not expect any 'legalistic' formulations, but very clear, simple and direct answers the common grass-root PEOPLE of this island, who are expected to follow the law, can understand.
1. Does the Island-territory of St. Maarten still have a government ?
2. Does the way in which the offices were cleared out and documents removed constitute proper procedures required for a transition of power ?
3. Whom do these documents belong to ?
4. Where have these documents been transported to ?
5. Have any documents been destroyed ?
6. If such can be proven, are there any legal consequences ?
7. Does any politician or civil-servant have the right to remove documents from the offices of Government, especially since it is speculated that there are ongoing investigations on commissioners and perhaps others a well ?.
8. Could this removal of documents constitute a criminal violation of removing possible evidence ?
In ending we trust you will respect the rights of the citizens 'to know', so that they will not follow possible poor examples of our political leaders , because obviously it will become almost impossible to root out corruption and crime.
Copies to all relevant authorities.