Not the people but politicians
are the crooks, says Gracita
PHILIPSBURG--The people of the Netherlands Antilles are honest, decent and family-inspired and are neither thieves nor crooks.
However, the administration of the Island Government has been mired for far too long in nepotism; conflicts of interest; dealing with family members; incurring massive debts, including illegal pre-financing schemes; as well as buying and selling votes in elections, leader of the People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA) Gracita Arrindell stated in a release.
She referred to the recent failed visit of the delegation of Members of the First and Second Chambers of the Dutch Parliament to attend a tripartite Parliamentary meeting with the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba on Kingdom Relations POK.
This failure was triggered by comments made by delegation member Hero Brinkman of the PVV party, that the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba were thieves’ nests and that the islands should be auctioned off on the Internet.
“Brinkman’s comments about the people of the Netherlands Antilles are regrettable, offensive, they have poisoned the atmosphere and taken away the much- needed focus from the elected representatives charged with the responsibility of negotiating the new constitutional status for the people of the Netherlands Antilles.” Arrindell said.
“The charges and recriminations from both sides only reduce the chances that the people of this island will receive the slated goal of a country status within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.”
She queried whether Brinkman and his colleagues did not understand that it was the Netherlands that controlled the criminal justice process for the Kingdom, including St. Maarten, and if there were criminals, crooks and cheats in St. Maarten they should be picked up, arrested and charged with crimes.
“It is terribly unfair and reckless for Kingdom politicians to accuse all the people of the Netherlands Antilles of being criminals because some of our local officials are allegedly crooks and cheats, a condition found around the world, including Holland. Defending his statements on his return to the Netherlands by saying that he ‘speaks what others think’ is not helpful,” she said.
Arrindell: “So, Brinkman, either shut up or take constructive action by using the instrument of the Kingdom Charter at your disposal and remedy what are in your view the wrongs. Freedom of speech must be used wisely, especially by elected officials. Your playing Kingdom politics on the backs of the people of these islands is indecent and beneath any level of civility and mutual respect.”
Arrindell advised focusing on the people’s business and turning down the rhetoric and recriminations in the interest of getting the real issue of constitutional status back on the table for meaningful discussions.
“Hopefully, this will be the case in June when the POK is scheduled to meet again. Hopefully, our representatives will be much better prepared in dealing with these matters with a cool head. Especially since the views and positions of politicians such as Brinkman should have been known before their arrival on the islands,” Arrindell said.
