Thus-far, we must highly recommend the local media for walking a very thin line, by allowing these very emotional St. Martin voices of frustration to be expressed, either in the news-papers, radio-stations or websites.
It definitely is balancing act, to allow for pent up frustrations of the St. Martin people to be vented, while carefully guarding ethics in journalism and guarding against senseless incitement of hatred.
We certainly applaud the media for realizing the importance of this act, in which none of the interests and concerns should be denied to any group of people and certainly no longer to the native St. Martiners who are finding themselves betrayed by their elected officials.
In particular, I wish to commend and thank my good friend, Mrs. Bibi SHAW-HODGE for her role as a professional in this needed process of freedom of expression.
I know it is very difficult for my friend Bibi, who I enormously appreciate, admire and am indebted to, as a born Guyanese, to allow for her very important website to be used, whereby in many cases letters to the editor and comments might be perceived as very confrontational towards immigrants in particular.
We certainly understand that as a born Guyanese this must be very hurtful at times for Bibi, because she has the full right to be proud of her Guyanese heritage, which we understand and agree with, because certainly we are proud of our St. Martin heritage.
Therefore, with much respect for the other members of the media, we sincerely wish to thank Bibi for not allowing for her own understandable personal sentiments and justified love for her own country Guyana to get in the way of her professional ethics as a journalist and reporter.
In general, we see that as a sign that our local media is maturing tremendously and we look forward for this development to continue, because denying legitimate concerns to be expressed, forces them 'under-ground' with possibly devastating consequences for society as a whole.
Thank you members of the media once more,
drs. Leopold JAMES
President St. Martin Grassroots Nation Building Movement.
