Delusional or Lacking in Rationality?
Since 10-10-10 we have called ourselves a country, and in a few hours, we will once again celebrate St. Martin’s Day. I held off on writing this because, frankly, I still can’t believe how easily we have come to accept mediocrity as a job well done.
Look around you and ask yourself, what has truly changed since 2010? Not much, except the pockets of those in power. Take a moment and compare your own progress from 2010 to now, and then compare it to theirs. The difference speaks volumes. We have allowed political colors to fool us, and indeed, we have paid the price.
Those who started off red turned blue; the blues became yellow; the tired ones turned white, and so the carousel of colors kept spinning. But here is the truth: the colors may change, yet the faces remain the same. And sadly, we seem to like it that way.
For decades, the same circle of people, often literal family, have been in power. A parliament and government lined with cousins of the third and fourth degree, all comfortably sitting atop the system. They say blood is thicker than water; clearly, it is also thicker than accountability.
We skip over good, capable candidates in favor of the loudest ones, the popular faces who spew empty promises during campaigns. Puppets on strings, dancing for applause, with no depth or foresight.
Government-Owned Companies: 15 Years Later
We shower praise on executives for a “job well done” even when the job was to enrich themselves. SZV is on the brink of chaos, plagued by phishing scams, inflated contracts, and mismanagement, all under the watch of the longest-serving Minister of VSA and an unchanging C-level team.
How did one individual manage to run two companies simultaneously? Where were the High Councils of State when this was happening? Now those same figures have quietly retired from politics, leaving the public to suffer in silence. Once again, the infamous local motto prevails: kick the can down the road and let someone else figure it out.
GEBE: Everything But Power and Water
The late great Julius Lambert had a vision for GEBE, one of progress and resilience. Yet today, we are stuck in the dark, literally and figuratively.
An underground project that began after Hurricane Luis remains incomplete, nearly 30 years later. We keep hiring foreign executives, paying them handsomely to “fix” problems we created. Meanwhile, the company depends on World Bank funds to finish projects we ourselves started.
An investigative report on the GEBE hack revealed passwords for critical routers and switches were never changed, a basic cybersecurity principle. How did auditors miss that for years? What was the SBDO doing besides collecting a salary?
And here is the kicker: GEBE is a monopoly and somehow still in debt. The math does not make sense. When the temporary generator breaks down again, and it will, will we still be surprised?
TelEm: The Untouchable Mess
TelEm is the island’s running joke. How does a company win awards for fiber service while its DSL customers can barely stream a song?
In Middle Region, some pay $55 for 75 Mbps, while others pay the same for a mere 8 Mbps, with upload speeds that belong in the Stone Age. Where is BTP, our so-called regulator, in all this? Nowhere to be found.
And as the Minister battles an MP over taxi and bus licenses, an argument dating back decades, the public watches their soap opera, “The Tales of the MP and the Minister.” Maybe both should just resign and give the island a break.
The Airport: A Flicker of Hope
Once a symbol of pride, our airport was left in shambles by greed and incompetence. Slowly, it is clawing its way back, and thankfully, we are seeing locals return to leadership roles. It is a start, but there is still a long way to go before the Princess regains her crown.
Wake Up, Sint Maarten
We, the people, must come out of our collective slumber. Our suffering stems from family politics and unchecked greed. Supervisory Boards filled with friends and relatives, qualifications optional, all to secure a few more votes come election time.
We are not ignorant; we simply refuse to demand better. It is time to stop applauding mediocrity. A 5.5 may be a passing grade, but once upon a time, excellence meant a 7 or higher. Let us raise the bar again, if not for ourselves, then for the generations that follow.
Lord, help us to help ourselves.
(𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 - 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳. 𝘐𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳’𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘜𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘢 “𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.”. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘌𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘺, 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘺, 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦.)