INSIDE ST. MAARTEN Edition Nr. 0

IN 1

IN

St. Maarten

Public prosecutor: Addressing The Challenges Of Law Enforcement

Is Online Shopping Coming to St. Maarten?

Survival Lessons from

Touzah Jah Bash INSIDEstmaarten.com

2 IN

About us

BEST OF

Aarti Baran

ST. MAARTEN

drone pilot, owner of FLY4U Favorite place on the island?

Orient Bay beach, Anse Marcel and Grand Case.

Best view of St. Maarten from the sky?

The aerial view where you see the amazing scenery of beautiful mountains with on the other side the ocean, Kimsha beach and on the other side Simpson Bay Lagoon where the yachts are lined up. It has something magical and in my eyes this really represents St. Maarten.

What is on your bucket list for drone shots?

To capture all the 37 beaches and beautiful hidden places in St. Maarten. I am halfway. So when possible, I will continue to get this done When you are not working, where do you like to go?

I love to do sports activities. For a swimming workout I like to go to Little Bay beach or Mullet bay. For hiking I usually go to Guana Bay. You prefer sunset or sunrise?

I find both very beautiful and cinematic in different ways. Sunrise gives new hope and a new day to start and sunset gives hope that the next day will become even better than today.

You haven’t lived in St. Maarten until… … you have experienced the St. Maarten Carnival!!

An INSIDE look at the island of St. Maarten. That is what the StMaartenNews. com team offers with this weekly magazine you have in your hands.

INSIDE StMaartenNews.com goes beyond the news on the website and in the digital newsletter that subscribers receive weekly. Where online news is aimed at the quick reader, someone who wants to be up-to-date with current events, this weekly magazine goes deeper into developments on the island and makes connections. You can expect from us interviews, background articles, portraits and content that give you an insider’s view on the issues.

INSIDE StMaartenNews.com has a fixed format with recurring themes and topics. In this first issue Chief Public Prosecutor Mirjam Mol offers an inside look at the Public Prosecutor’s Office on pages 4 and 5. The private sector is served with a business section on pages 8 and 9 and a success story in the heart of the magazine, a centerspread on pages 12 and 13. For valuable information about health and wellness, please visit pages 20 and 21.

We hope you enjoy our content!

Do you have a question? Do you want to share your opinion? Or do you have a tip? Mail the editors via info@stmaartennews.com.

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terviews. We aim to give you

a guide for both consumers and investors interested in

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Anselmo Carty

Feel free to mail your questions to info@stmaarten-

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IN 3

Secrets St. Martin waiting to The new Secrets-branded hotel at Anse Marcel had just welcomed its first-ever guests on March 1st, when the lockdown on the French side due to COVID-19 halted operations. For now, the new property remains a hidden gem waiting to be discovered.

reopen

Located on the tranquil Anse Marcel Beach, Secrets St. Martin is an impressive redo of the former Riu Palace St Martin that was destroyed during Hurricane Irma. A total of 63 million dollars is invested in the new adults-only resort that has 258 luxurious suites with stunning ocean, marina and mountain views.

Secrets St. Martin carries an all-inclusive program.

Dining concepts include the poolside Barefoot Grill, the Italian-style Portofino and Olio Mediterranean Cuisine,

Government launched COVID-19 Dashboard

Read the latest news on News.sx StMaartenNews.com launches spin-off: NEWS.SX The website is still in its development stage, says owner Terrance Rey. “So consider this a soft launch.

We are still working on more features and we hope to do certain integrations with the government news service.”

News.sx brings you the latest news, factually and without embellishment.

News.sx sole purpose is to inform the readers

the Pan-Asian eatery Himitsu, the Market Cafe international buffet and the Coco Café.

The newly built resort is the first Secrets-branded property in the French Caribbean and the 16th Secrets Resort in the Caribbean region. It is owned and operated by AMResorts and its parent company, the global travel giant Apple Leisure Group. Renovations of several buildings on the premises will resume as soon as this will be allowed by the prefecture.

with news from government, institutions, businesses and other relevant stakeholders in our society that have important information to share with the public. Dissemination of news relating to St. Maarten is the primary objective of News.sx.

To receive daily news bulletins on your smartphone or device during the lockdown period, WhatsApp COVID-19 to +17215880800 and we will add you to our daily news broadcasts.

POND ISLAND — Government has launched a COVID-19 dashboard where all COVID-19 related data can be seen in one screen, including informational videos, a trending graph of the developments and the latest broadcast of the Prime Minister and Chair of the Emergency Operations Center or EOC. The dashboard can be found online here: http://arcg.is/1mb1Xj0. This front-end version is the version for the public. The version that the EOC uses, called the EOC Dashboard, shows more indepth data used in the EOC’s decision-making process.

The EOC Dashboard is not for the general public due to the privacy aspects of the data being managed in Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs (NA) the EOC Dashboard.

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4 IN

‘There is not only a shortage of cells, justice as a whole is struggling with scarcity’ Victim support is not available on St. Maarten. Chief Public Prosecutor Mirjam Mol experiences this as a major lack of law enforcement. As head of the public prosecutor’s office, she has got her hands full prosecuting perpetrators. In addition, due to the shortage of cells, she must decide on the early release of detainees. With the risk of new victims. “These are difficult choices,” says Mol. “The safety of society does not benefit from this.”

T

he Chief Public Prosecutor is very concerned about the increasing number of violent crimes. In 2019, the most common offense on St. Maarten, theft, was overtaken by violence.

To gain more insight into the background of perpetrators, the St. Maarten Police Force started registering domestic violence last year.

Before the domestic violence database was rigged up, the police handled a report of abuse or threat of a family member without taking into account that violence between family members is often systematic in nature.

A characteristic of domestic violence is that

the perpetrator and victim (including underage victims) are nevertheless - and sometimes forced permanently part of each other’s living environment.

This not only increases the chance of recurrence; domestic violence can be the pressure cooker that leads to people also committing violence outside the family setting. “It’s a taboo,” says Mol. “You don’t talk about what happens in the house.

There is fear. And shame.

Understandable, but we do have to talk about it.”

The right to privacy is a major asset. People prefer not to hang dirty laundry outside.

Mirjam Mol: “Even though it takes place within the privacy of the family, it concerns us all. Domestic violence has an effect on our society. I think there is a relationship between the expressions of violence that we see on the street and the violence that people experience in their own family and the seclusion of their own home. There is an absurd amount of school fights on St. Maarten, the aggressiveness among young people is worrying.

We have to talk to our children. Because what is their perspective as they grow up with so much violence around them? Where does all that aggression come

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from? It is an issue that we pay far too little attention to on St. Maarten.”

What is the added value of the domestic violence database?

“The moment you generate figures; you can create urgency. Certainly because people have a hard time talking about domestic violence or violence against children, you cannot translate into policy without hard figures. If you are going to discuss it at the administrative level, you will soon come up against the question: what are we talking about, how big is the problem anyway? Is it about incidents, or is it a

structural problem? Then you have to stay quiet, because we have never registered it. That feels annoying.”

Are there indications that there is more domestic violence in Spanish, English or Frenchspeaking households?

“Funny that you ask. In the United States, a large study has been carried out on the assumption that domestic violence mainly occurs in neighborhoods where colored people live and where incomes are low. What turned out to be, lo and behold, domestic violence is much more common in white fami-

IN 5 lies, in people with high incomes. We can assume that it occurs on all levels of the population on St. Maarten.”

In 2012, Nikil van Wijk obtained her PhD at the VU University Amsterdam on a thesis about domestic violence in Curaçao. Her research shows that 25 percent of men and 38 percent of women in Curaçao have experienced domestic violence. When childhood is involved, it appears that half of the population of Curaçao has experienced domestic violence.

“I think the situation on St. Maarten is not much different. I am very concerned about the children who grow up here in an atmosphere of aggressiveness and violence.

Young people quickly grab a weapon - not directly a firearm, it can also be an iron bar or a club. Disagreement is not finished, it is action reaction: you say something that I don’t like, you look at me and I don’t like it, so I take it out on you. Violence as an outlet for pent-up frustrations. Until someone picks up a firearm, and it really gets serious. Let’s face it: there are a lot of firearms on St. Maarten.”

How does the Public Prosecution Service view firearms possession?

“Whoever has an illegal firearm, threatens or shoots with it, ends up in jail. It’s that simple. The Miss Lalie Center for Detention of Boys was reopened last year and I am glad that this gives us the opportunity again to keep young men who are in possession of firearms off the street. But when it comes to girls, we have a problem.

There are no detention facilities on St. Maarten for criminal girls. There is a section for adult women in the Point Blanche prison. A few women are currently locked up there.”

A year ago, the Netherlands supplied container cells to put an end to the cell deficit on St. Maarten.

“This has been discussed for a long time, yes, the expansion of cell capacity. But those container cells have not yet been installed, have they?

They are currently piled up against a wall of the prison.

I hope that those container cells can be made operational in the short term, because we need extra cells.”

Without connection to water and electricity, without coordination, supervision and safety measures, these container cells are of no use?

“A plan must be made. That is not a task of the Public Prosecution Service, the government must arrange this.

Extra cells mean that more security personnel are needed. The prison has long been struggling with a dire shortage of guards. In the end it’s all about money. More staff means more costs. There is no unwillingness on the part of St. Maarten. Scarcity is a concept on this island: scarcity of qualified people, expertise, facilities. Above all, there is a structural shortage of financial resources. We come up against that every day at the Public Prosecution Service. We must always try to come up with the cheapest possible solutions and use people as creatively as possible to ensure that it costs as little as possible.”

There is no money to install the container cells.

Yet the Netherlands says: this is the responsibility of the government of St. Maarten.

“I understand everyone’s frustration. It looks like a Catch 22, we can’t figure it out. The Consensus Kingdom Acts stipulate that there must be a prison on the islands, a public prosecutor, judiciary, police, border control, but the Kingdom does not determine how this should or can be achieved. That is the responsibility of the countries within the Kingdom, since 10-10-10.

My salary is paid by the Ministry of Justice of St. Maarten, and therefore by the taxpayer on St. Maarten.

The budget of Justice on St. Maarten is not sufficient for what we want to achieve in the field of law enforcement.

If you see what the police are able to achieve here with the scarce resources at their disposal, with a structural shortage of personnel, that is admirable.

Hats off! The police and other investigation services are functioning better and more criminals are being arrested. And so the shortage of cells in prison is increasing. We are now again at the point where we must release prisoners early to free up cell space for newly convicted people.”

Photo by: Tim Van Dijk

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6 IN

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IN 7 How many convicts are at home with an ankle bracelet?

“Zero.”

There is no Electronic Supervision?

“No, we don’t have that on St. Maarten. I wish it were there, that would mean a reduction of the cell deficiency. We have ankle bracelets, a protocol has been drawn up about how we should deal with that, but people have to be deployed for supervision and there is no money for that.

For a long time, there has been a request for additional assistance for Electronic Supervision from the Ministry of Justice.”

You notice that the tension, the frustration increases, you see the reactions in the media.

What needs to happen to break the circle?

“If I only knew ... I’m just the Public Prosecution Service, I don’t represent the Government of St. Maarten. I think a lot about it and try to contribute to a solution by talking openly about the problem, as I am doing with you now. To show what we encounter every day. I try to inform my administrators, the Minister of Justice, as well as possible about what is going on. I sound the alarm bell from time to time, expecting the government to continue with it.”

Is it being followed up?

“Yes. But urgent matters have not been given the necessary priority, at least

it does not lead to solutions.”

If you are faced with the decision to release a prisoner early, what are the considerations?

“These are difficult choices.

I am not inclined to release someone who has committed an armed robbery earlier. Then I would rather opt for the burglar, someone who is incarcerated for theft. That may seem obvious, but it is not. In prison there are a number of socalled revolving door criminals, men who constantly commit small crimes. You know beforehand that if you release them, they will immediately start stealing again.”

How many revolving door criminals are there on St. Maarten?

“If I look at the names that are common in our public prosecutor’s office, I think there are between five and ten. That does not seem like much, but if each of them commits 10 burglaries before they are caught again, it will have a huge impact, certainly in such a small community as St. Maarten. And you have a large stream of tourists here, you have to take that into account too.”

To what extent does alcohol and drug addiction play a role?

“That is a structural problem. On St. Maarten there is no special institution for drug addict detainees.

Public safety would benefit if we were able to offer addicts the necessary assistance. This also applies to people with a men-

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tal disorder. The Mental Health Foundation on St. Maarten does what it can, but also has to contend with scarcity.”

To come back to victims; who can they turn to now?

“The Public Prosecution Service provides victims with information, lets them know when the court case is scheduled and explains how they can submit a claim. What we miss on St. Maarten is a Victim Support Office, an organization that can provide initial relief and serves as a contact for victims.

Law enforcement on St. Maarten is very offenderoriented: the offender gets a lawyer for his defense, gets help from the probation service and other assistance. We should also

be concerned about the victim, who must also be able to tell his story.”

The message is: do not cut back on tackling crime?

“Certainly! Invest in safety. That means strengthening the law enforcement chain, ensuring that the police are strong, that the investigation services can do their job well. It also means investing in prevention; it is always better to prevent crime than to try to repair the damage afterwards. That is the weakness of criminal law, that it only asserts itself after the events. The Public Prosecution Service can only take action when a criminal offense has been committed, when it is actually too late.”

8 IN

Are online sho PHILIPSBURG – Following supermarkets, distributors on St. Maarten also offer the option of ordering food supplies for home delivery via WhatsApp. What can we expect next: a new platform for online shopping and delivery? Or will the drastic change in consumer demand stabilize once we flatten the curve?

The ill wind of COVID-19 has blown a change so vast that it is hard to tell disaster from opportunity. The new dynamic is bringing some supermarkets unprecedented demand. The larger supermarkets are receiving hundreds of relatively large orders a day from people desperately trying to arrange to get food and drink deliveries for the weeks ahead. Not being able to cope with the demand, the supermarkets admit clients may have to wait three or four days before their groceries can be delivered. Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs warns fol-

lowers on social media not to order at two or three supermarkets at the same time because that will slow operations even more.

Supermarkets on St. Maarten are also facing other problems with delivery. As Kam’s FoodWorld explains: “When we went to deliver the groceries to customers, to our utter dismay, in certain areas we couldn’t locate the street name signs. This is a major hindrance for supermarkets to perform efficiently. It’s been noted that many neighborhoods do not have street signs perhaps since Irma. I do believe the situation we are in, will prompt continuous delivery services, and I request the government to please update the street signs, as it’s a necessity and added benefit for those old and new to find their way around the island.”

Grocery delivery, with its ‘contactless’ drop-offs, was supposed to be the ultimate pandemic convenience. It promised to keep people at

#COVID-19 ESSENTIAL BUSINESS SHOPPING SCHEDULE Pe rs ons a re a l l owed to patronized Ba nks*, Ba keries, Grocery Stores, Pharmacies, Gas Stations and Cooking Gas Retailers within their residential zones.

Rules: 

Shopping is only within your zone.

allowed



Designate one person within the household to shop.



Two persons allowed per vehicle. Passenger must ride behind the front passenger seat.



Wear masks (home made cloth masks allowed).



Walk with a shopping list.



Maintain social distancing.



Refrain from hugging, kissing and handshakes.

SHOPPING DAYS: MONDAY, WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY 8 am – 6 pm

Zone A EAST OF COLE BAY HILL E.g. Philipsburg, Cay Hill etc.

Zone B WEST OF COLE BAY HILL E.g. Cole Bay, Simpson Bay etc.

SENIORS, DISABLED & PREGNANT WOMEN First Hour Opening 8 am - 9 aM Medical Appointments

Must show proof of appointment if venturing outside of your zone.

EFFECTIVE APRIL 19th, 2020 * Allowed to cross zones if your banking institution does not have a branch within your residential zone.

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IN 9

opping and delivery finally

coming to St. Maarten?

home and out of crowded stores, facilitating the social distancing needed to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Many customers complain that ‘it is not working’. That conclusion is somewhat premature, as this process was urgently implemented and it came with challenges. Many companies do not yet have the technologies that allow them scale as they grow in popularity.

Even the largest retailers on the planet are struggling to keep up with the unprecedented consumer demand. Amazon announced it can’t fully manage the crush in orders. As a result, it is delaying the delivery of non-essential items, or in some cases not taking orders for non-essentials

at all. Consumers are also reporting weekslong waits on Instacart, Shipt and other leading platforms as demand far outpaces the supply of available workers and groceries.

Since March Amazon has hired more than 100,000 new warehouse and delivery workers, and it’s planning to bring on 75.000 more workers. In the meantime, Amazon and other online shopping platforms have undoubtedly benefited from the coronavirus lockdowns that forced other retailers to close their businesses.

In the space of a month, online shopping and on-demand delivery have transformed from a luxury of the rich to the connective tissue holding much of the economy together.

With online retail sales estimated to reach an eyewatering $6.5 trillion by 2023, the ecommerce sector was already booming.

But since the outbreak, online shopping has been catapulted into complete overdrive.

E-commerce spending in the U.S. is up more than 30% from the beginning of March through mid-April compared with the same period last year, according to market research firm Rakuten Intelligence.

Following the initial stockpiling period, there was a shift in spending preferences. Despite being a fraction of the overall share of spend, there was a whopping 777% increase in book purchases, followed by 182% growth in the toys and games category and 131%

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growth among sports and outdoors items, which includes gym equipment.

Following stay-at-home orders, many people started baking bread and preparing healthy meals. That’s good news for home appliance sellers.

In the United States, online sales of bread makers increased by 652%. One and a half times as many refrigerators and freezers were also sold in a short time. Mixers, fruit shakers, nutribullets also sold like hot cakes.

On St. Maarten, entrepreneurs are preparing to deliver new online services.

Coming soon: Influenced, an online store for women’s apparel and fashion.

TropChop.com, a delivery service for local restaurants, is now looking to work with supermarkets for on demand delivery

of groceries. Distributors are implementing changes to improve the processing of orders. But the rush is subsiding, and consumers are starting to manage their expectations. They’ve realized they can’t just go online and get their groceries delivered in an hour or two, so they’re starting to plan ahead.

Meanwhile, the question remains: will this drastic change in consumer behavior stabilize once we flatten the curve, or is this our new normal? And will more companies manage to adapt? When threatened by crisis, many companies will be focused on defensive moves, but it’s wiser to focus your attention around emerging opportunities.

10 IN

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IN 11

Through Different Eyes He defended problem youth in Amsterdam, the hard core, responsible for street terror. Criminal lawyer Remco Stomp took on cases that other lawyers refused. Juvenile crime is different on St. Maarten, he says. “Young people who terrorize the street are rare on this island.

But crime is harder here, there are more shootings.”

Name: Remco Stomp Born in: Guatemala Nationality: Dutch Lives in St. Maarten since: 2004 Marital status: Married, three children Profession: Attorney at law

“Crime on St. Maarten is not so bad, given the poverty on the island.”

A

lawyer who opts for on-call duty, whereby he is assigned to new suspects, can make ends meet in the Netherlands on a monthly basis thanks to reasonable compensation and extra allowances from the government, Stomp knows from the time he did immigration and youth cases in Amsterdam. On the other hand, a lawyer who delivers on-call service has an uncertain life on St. Maarten. “The fee is much lower here,” says Stomp.

“And it can take a long time for the government to pay.”

To keep his law firm up and running, Stomp has to take on cases with which he has less affinity. “Organized crime, human trafficking, arms and drug transports,” he sums up. “I had cases where automatic firearms were used and bombs exploded. Intense, but after such a big case, I can help people who can’t afford a lawyer.”

He believes that what someone has done is of secondary importance.

“There are very few people who are really bad. Most suspects in criminal cases have a story, often a series of events precedes a crime. I want to show the judge and the public prosecutor how someone comes to a certain deed, however horrible it may be. I don’t approve it, no, it’s about finding the truth, showing where things went wrong.”

Every person deserves a chance, says Stomp. “If you see how widespread poverty is on St. Maarten, then the crime on this island is not so bad, I think. In Amsterdam everyone in my family has been harassed on the street and in the tram and metro. Not only offended, but also attacked and beaten.

This rarely happens on St. Maarten, you will not find groups of problematic youth terrorizing the street. Crime on

the island often involves theft and burglaries, targeted actions.” He pauses for a moment. Then, with a serious look: “The enormous differences between rich and poor on this island, you never get used to that. As a Dutchman I feel ashamed. People who have no income do not receive benefits, they really have nothing. I find it inconceivable that this exists in our Kingdom.”

Remco Stomp (50) was born in Guatemala. His father was a tropical agriculturalist, he had studied at the school for horticulture in Deventer and then left for Africa. He ran a coffee plantation on Kilimanjaro. “My father was born and raised in Indonesia, the tropics were in his blood,” says Stomp.

“From Africa he went to South America, lived in Brazil for a while and then in Guatemala. He met my mother at a student party in the Netherlands and took her to Guatemala. They had three children there; I have two brothers, one older, one younger.”

from a middle-class family and although I was in a boarding school, I was not short of food and material things. I was privileged. But I also knew the feeling of being on my own as a child. It could have turned out differently with me, I realize. It’s about the choices you make. These choices are influenced by many circumstances. You can see that reflected in criminal law.”

Stomp married a Somali. After his studies, he considered leaving for Somalia. She didn’t want that. Too dangerous. “I want to have you with me a little longer, she said to me,” Stomp recalls. He is smiling. “So where do we go then?, I asked. We had traveled a lot, especially in South and Central America. I did not know St. Maarten, I discovered the island online and could not find much information, except that it is half French, half Dutch. That fascinated me. We booked a vacation for a month. It was awesome!” In 2004, Stomp and his wife emigrated, he set up Stomp Lawyers office, and together they had three children, born in the French part of St. Maarten.

Uninhibited and unprejudiced, that is how he wants to approach life and criminal cases. “Sometimes things turn out quite differently: after Hurricane Irma, people were imprisoned for possession of weapons. I went to Pointe

When he was seven, his parents divorced. The family then lived in the Netherlands. “My father left for Spain. I think my mother would also have liked to travel, but she had to take care of the children,” says Stomp. After wandering in the Netherlands, the family ended up in Amsterdam. It was a difficult period, especially for his mother, Stomp recalls. “I was quite a difficult child. At the age of fourteen I went to boarding school. My two brothers followed, also for them the situation at home was untenable.” Thoughtfully: “It all turned out well. I am lucky that my mother loved me very much, it is not that she did away with me.”

The decision to study criminal law was influenced by his turbulent youth.

Stomp: “I was a spoiled boy, came

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Blanche prison, spoke to them, and got several prisoners released through the courts. Those people had defended their home when the island was looted. The military police posted on the street, while the resort where they were staying was attacked and rooms were emptied. After the hurricane it was a war situation here.”

Reconstruction and poverty reduction are not only the responsibility of the St. Maarten government, says Stomp. “The Netherlands has been strongly reprimanded several times by the European Court of Human Rights. Look at what the US Army had to do for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

The devastation on St. Maarten is even worse. This island, comparable to the average provincial town in the Netherlands, cannot handle it alone.” Solidarity and cooperation, that is what the Kingdom should guarantee, the lawyer believes. “It’s about human rights.”

It is not known how many people live on St. Maarten and how many lives the hurricane has claimed. There are also no poverty statistics. “But everyone can see that poverty on the island is dire,” says Stomp. “There are many single mothers, most have two to three jobs to try and support their children.

What do those children do while their mothers work? After school there is a big gap. Except for food, there is also

no money for sports or activities. Many children are disadvantaged and face tough prospects.”

Last year Stomp decided to go into politics, in the last elections he was number six on the list of the United Democrats (UD). Campaigning went well for him. “I like to talk to people, I have met many interesting people in a short time.” He decided not to place billboards. “I requested a quote. Billboards would cost me 1450 dollars.

I thought that money could be better spent on fighting poverty,” says Stomp.

He issued two checks, one for the I Can Foundation and one for New Start Foundation, two children’s homes on St. Maarten. He had lighting installed around a number of basketball courts so that children could exercise there in the evening. “I do what I can, before, during and after the elections. People just want help. And they are not helped.”

Stomp’s party won one seat and it went to the party leader. “The structural vote trade continues to play into the fragile local democracy and that will not change as long as a large part of the population continues to live in poverty,” says Stomp. The lawyer has decided to assist more minors this year. “Most juveniles who have to appear in court do not benefit from imprisonment, they need guidance. And especially opportunities.”

12 IN

SUCCESS STORY

How NAGICO delivered on their promise:

‘At the end we said:

mission

accomplished!’

Two hurricanes in one month, thirteen island territories hit. 14.000 policyholders affected. National General Insurance Corp N.V. (NAGICO), headquartered in St. Maarten, paid close to US 800 million dollars. And survived as a company. Post Irma and Maria NAGICO remains financially sound and continues to serve the Caribbean. “Better, bigger and stronger,” says NAGICO chairman Imran McSood Amjad.

T

wo years after hurricanes Irma and Maria pummeled St. Maarten, on the mornings of September 6th and 18th 2017, he still finds it ‘unbelievable’ that the island, a dot in the Caribbean, found itself in the path of the eye of Irma. “What are the chances?”, says McSood Amjad. “If Irma had turned a few degrees north, or a few degrees south, the outcome would have been very different.” He pauses, frowns at the thought. “The day before the storm we knew that St. Maarten was going to get hit very, very hard. Unless a miracle happened.”

He was at home, a well-built house in the Maho area. Protected by hurricane shutters

and a good roof. “But you never know,” says McSood Amjad who determined a room on the ground floor as the safest place for his family to hide.

“I was constantly following the movement and tracking of the storm, watching windy. com and weather channels. Up all night, too anxious to sleep.

In the morning it happened: raging winds. 185 miles an hour.” This storm was massive, he realized. “At first all I could think of was family and friends. But a few hours into the storm I also worried about the company. I said to my wife: ‘NAGICO will face an enormous amount of losses. There is no way we can avoid it. We have to brace ourselves for the worst.’ In my mind I was going

over numbers, asking myself if we had not miscalculated. I still had hope that NAGICO had sufficient reinsurance, that we were protected.”

The day after When she looked around her house, what was left of it after the hurricane had passed, Kyria Ali did not believe her eyes. “The roof was gone, it was complete chaos,” says the NAGICO executive. “I did not know what to do. There was no electricity and no water, pipes were broken. I felt overwhelmed, damaged, broken myself.” A quick thinker and go-getter at her job, leading several teams, she however found herself indecisive faced with the damage at home.

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“The storm has taught us that we as people, and as a company, can do more than we ever imagined possible.’

“Luckily I had family support.

Knowing that my home was being taken care of, I could concentrate on how to get to

work and help others.”

The next day NAGICO’s then Chief Executive Officer Dwayne Elgin came to check on her. “I was surprised and relieved to see our CEO and two of my colleagues,” says Ali. “I didn’t know the main roads had been cleared, and that some areas on the island had cell phone and internet service. Nobody had been able to reach me.” While the CEO drove around to find missing employees, Chairman Imran McSood Amjad was doing the same in other parts of the island. “We are the only insurance company licensed to do business on both the Dutch and the French side, and have a total of 130 employees in St. Maarten/St Martin. It was not an easy task to locate all of them. We had several managers checking on the members of their team, each reporting to Human Resources. Through our catastrophe group chat we learned how everyone was doing and what they needed from us, how we could help them.”

Deliver on a promise Back at the office Kyria Ali, NAGICO’s Chief Strategy & Business Development Officer, found her mojo with the staff. “I felt right at home and knew exactly what to do.” In the office toilets were working, there was a large supply of bottled water and food, the staff had enough resources to last for weeks. “It brought a sense of normalcy,” says Ali, who felt even more determined after hurricane Maria passed, less than two weeks after hurricane Irma.

“Before I joined NAGICO I knew what this company was about, I knew our risk.

I signed up for it. So I needed to be prepared to act, not run.”

In the first staff meeting after the events Ali recounts saying: ‘This is our time! This will be our legacy. Two CAT 5’s plowing through this island in less than two weeks: what we do today, tomorrow and in the days to come will define who we are as professionals. We have to deliver on our promise.” Essentially, that is what NAGICO does, Ali says: sell a promise. “We sell a promise to you, to every policy holder, that we will help you when you need us.”

SUCCESS STORY After the hurricane many of NAGICO’s clients did not have internet, they could not be reached. “We chose to go to them ourselves,” Ali recalls.

“Executives and non-executives alike walked around with claim forms, talking to people in our respective neighborhoods, telling them: ‘I will help you fill out your form. I will take it into the office for you and register your claim.’

We had to work fast. No insurance company can pay the damages from a hurricane of this magnitude by itself: you need reinsurers. We had to quickly assess the losses, get a scope of the damage, and provide the reinsurers with all the information necessary.”

When emotions run high ‘Do not get angry in return’, the staff had been guided before dealing with customers who came to the office. McSood Amjad: “I understand that people are upset. They come to you for help, that is what they paid for over the years. When they see that there are thousands of other

claimants, they fear that by the time NAGICO pays the first one hundred, the company doesn’t have money left.”

The average customer doesn’t understand how insurance and reinsurance works; how was this one company to pay for all other businesses on the island? McSood Amjad found it hard to explain. He was a guest on many radio shows and reassured listeners that they would all be paid. “I have been in the insurance business for 45 years and have seen it all: hurricane Luis in 1995, the volcano eruption in Montserrat that same year, many Caribbean islands hit by flooding, power outages. NAGICO operates on 21 islands. Irma and Maria impacted 13 of them, which resulted in almost 14.000 policyholders affected. That is a lot to handle!”

While customers expected their claims for their house and car to be settled in a matter of weeks, McSood Amjad knew it would take months.

“Even with hundreds of employees in the Caribbean, NAGICO did not have enough hands to handle claims faster.

It was frustrating. For me, as a shareholder, I would say it was a torturous period.”

He pauses, then continues thoughtfully: “Thousands of people’s livelihoods and future business depended on us.

When there is a catastrophe of this magnitude and people are suffering psychologically, financially, morally, you can’t not respond to people.” McSood Amjad expected adjusters to respond to emails immediately. “At least within 48 hours,” he says. “Although, personally I think 48 hours is way too long, it was understandable in the situation.”

Incompetence made him lose his cool. “I have a three-steprule: I give everybody three chances. But a fourth time, I will probably lose it. I have been known to use unacceptable language.” Adding quickly: “But I have never exploded on a client. I may have said: ‘Look, I am very sorry, but this is what we can do.’ We would

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certainly disagree, sometimes strongly disagree. But lose my cool to a client? No.”

“We were determined to prove NAGICO can do it.

And we did.”

Calculating risks The key to risk management is to not only buy proper reinsurance, the right amount of money, but to buy quality reinsurance, McSood Amjad emphasizes. “You could have 5 billion dollars in reinsurance, but if those companies do not pay the claims, then you can’t deliver on your promise.

Of course, these are not considerations you take 24 hours before a storm; we follow a robust risk management process

IN 13

and ensure that our reinsurance program is in place year round.”

NAGICO relies on RMS, the world’s leading catastrophe risk modeling company. From earthquakes, hurricanes and floods to terrorism and infectious diseases, RMS helps financial institutions and public agencies understand, quantify and manage risk.

“We give them our policy data, with construction and location details and the total of sums insured,” McSood Amjad explains. “These experts put all our data in a system that they have built to calculate what kind of percentage of damages you are likely going to have with storms of different wind speeds, taking into account the history of all hurricanes that have passed through our region. They analyze the speed, size and path of the hurricane and report on the outcome, the impact it will have and the losses we will likely suffer. Based on their projections and our own expertise and knowledge of the islands, we buy reinsurance.”

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NAGICO customer Althea Been: ‘After Hurricane Irma came the weekend and I was prepared to wait until offices began to open next week. So, I was very surprised when a NAGICO representative contacted me asking about my wellbeing and informing me that their office was open and accepting claims. I hurried in to report my property damages which were very extensive. The staff at NAGICO were caring, understanding, comforting, fast and efficient with settling my claim.’

Preparations for the storm started long before Irma hit St. Maarten, says McSood Amjad.

“NAGICO works with adjusters who are very experienced, they are always somewhere in the world calculating damages from disasters. We had to get these experts as close to our region as possible, and our Chief Claims Officer agreed to have them fly to Antigua, St. Kitts and Anguilla before Irma.” After the hurricane hit St. Maarten, as soon as part of the runway of our airport was cleared, NAGICO arranged for charters and had cars waiting at the airport. “The adjusters started working immediately, visiting virtually every NAGICO insured property on the island,” says McSood Amjad. “They assessed the damage to businesses and houses, in some cases using drones, taking pictures and talking to the owners and our agents and brokers. For each property they created a ‘loss reserve’, reviewed claim submissions and adjusted the loss, with the end result being the amount of money that was expected to be paid out.”

International recognition Did NAGICO calculate losses correctly? It was estimated that after September 6th,

2017, the company would see a gross loss of around US 800 million dollars. “We expected our loss to be over US 900 million dollars, but it did not reach that far,” says McSood Amjad. “The chairman and shareholder smiles a satisfied grin. “We did good. Customers are satisfied and NAGICO remains a massive and strong company.”

Kyria Ali adds: “You don’t have to believe NAGICO’s word for it. Look at our reviews!” U.S. based AM Best Company reaffirmed NAGICO’s rating just four months after the hurricane. Ali: “In January 2018 they assessed us as being strong, stable and reliable. While some were questioning whether we would make it or not, the largest credit rating agency in the world reaffirmed us!

More so, in 2019 we received an upgrade. And this year they reaffirmed us again, after we dealt with hurricane Dorian last year. It shows their trust in us, in what we are doing.”

Since more than twenty years ago, NAGICO has been partnering with Swiss Re, one of the largest and strongest reinsurers in the world. “They covered a sizeable portion of our portfolio,” Ali recounts.

NAGICO customers Vinod & Unica Mahtani:

NAGICO customer Meritza Lake:

‘Since Hurricane Irma, we found NAGICO to be highly efficient, professional and super-fast in processing our car claim. Despite having serious damages to their Head Office, they were still very sufficient. Well done NAGICO team! We humbly appreciate all that you do.’

‘My home and vehicle got damaged during Hurricane Irma but I have life. The staff at NAGICO was very helpful and the claim process went very well.’

“They reviewed us, after the hurricanes, and they saw the value of what they, through NAGICO, were doing for the Caribbean region. They felt strongly connected to us and our purpose.”

Atlantic Challenge On January 7th, 2019, Swiss Re and NAGICO Group renewed their Excess of Loss (XoL) reinsurance treaty with a symbolic signing of the document halfway through a rowing race across the Atlantic Ocean. Cameron Parker,

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Head of P&C Structured Solutions for Continental Europe at Swiss Re, embarked on the extreme endurance race with a four-man rowing team, as part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

“They followed the same path as hurricanes follow towards the Caribbean,” comments Ali on the trans-Atlantic crossing, a journey at the very extreme edge of possible. After 40 days the team arrived in Antigua where NAGICO’s Chairman Imran McSood Amjad countersigned the

Treaty which became effective on 1 January 2019.

The race, says Kyria Ali, reflects the challenges all those affected by the hurricane faced. “It shows that we as humans are more resilient than we sometimes think we are. With love and support we will bounce back.” Passionately adding: “Granted, it took us at NAGICO more than 40 days to deliver on our promise.

We were determined to do it.

And we did!” Chairman McSood smiles: “Mission accomplished!”

IN 15

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16 IN

St. Maarten under the threat of

coronavirus

and hunger

Hurricane Irma was devastating. But many residents of St. Maarten believe that the corona pandemic can turn out to be even more disastrous for the island. The fear of becoming infected is less for many than the fear of losing a job or company. Hundreds of residents are already without income, they have to survive in anticipation of help and better times. A report.

E

arly in the morning, a man is bathing himself in the waves of Great Bay in Philipsburg. His pants and shirt are on the beach.

A hundred yards away, a man walks around aimlessly. He has no home and no income since the beach and jet ski operators had to stop working due to COVID-19. More than two weeks have now passed.

He still wears the same dark pants and gray t-shirt.

Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs of St. Maarten declared

a state of emergency on Saturday April 4. The entire population must remain indoors 24 hours a day for two weeks.

The measure, which starts at midnight that day, comes unexpected to many. Those who do not have internet cannot follow the Prime Minister’s updates. Moreover, she only speaks in English. Communication in Spanish and Patois follows three days later.

Officials tie a large speaker on the roof of a vehicle and drive to Cape Bay, a remote area with many Haitians and Dominicans, to announce the

emergency measure in multiple languages.

On the eve of the total lockdown, people who have heard the prime minister try to do as much last minute shopping as possible. Crowds of people gather in front of supermarkets, there is hardly any social distancing. The following day, Sunday, April 5, all shops and businesses are closed, except for two gas stations where police, navy and ambulance drivers can get gas.

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That Sunday, the otherwise busy Bush Road and the road to Marigot are used by some motorists as a race track. Also breaking the curfew are a few noisy motorcyclists in Cay Hill, a short distance from St. Maarten Medical Center, the only hospital on the Dutch side of the island. The navy has hastily erected a large tent there for the treatment and care of corona patients.

The terrain is further leveled with a caterpillar, a pick-up arrives with building material, and preparations are made inside the tent for the

arrival of additional Intensive Care beds and medical equipment from the Netherlands later that day.

A group of mountain bikers race down from Cay Hill in uniform, as if it were an ordinary Sunday. Next to the footpath is a blue rubber glove, a few meters away another. I will come across more, up to Maho about twenty, blue and white. In the bushes I see a few facemasks.

At the top of Cay Hill are two billboards: one from the

IN 17

government and telecom company Telem explaining social distancing, next to it one from the National Recovery Program Bureau that is working with World Bank money to rebuild St. Maarten, which was destroyed by Hurricane Irma in 2017. “Building Back Better”, it says in big letters.

COVID-19 has almost completely shut down the tourism-dependent economy of St. Maarten. Within three to six months, 45 percent of all private sector employees will lose their jobs, a survey of 580 companies by the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) concluded. The organization has calculated that the total number of unemployed can reach nine thousand. “It can be said with certainty that no one in our society will be spared,” said SHTA, who is pushing for a comprehensive plan to prevent acute job losses, household income loss and long-term economic deterioration.

In March of this year, the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS) calculated that the economy of St. Maarten would, in the worst case, shrink between 5.7 percent (after one month) and 29.2 percent (after six

months) due to the closure of airspace and sea borders.

A total lockdown because of the local spread of the virus had not yet been taken into account. Also in March it was not yet known that cruise ships will be banned from US ports, including Puerto Rico, for at least 100 days, which raises the question whether cruise lines will be able to maintain their fleet without the US passengers.

The Caribbean members of the Board of Financial Supervision are convinced that outside assistance is essential to save the fragile economies of St. Maarten and the other islands in the Kingdom.

On Thursday, April 9, during a live-streamed press conference in The Hague, Minister of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops announced that the requests for financial support from the BES islands, Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten will be honored. Minister Knops emphasizes the role of the Kingdom. “We are all in this situation together and we will work it out together. We will help you.”

with friends and acquaintances, take a walk on the beach or take a dip in the sea.

Under a tree on the beach sits Anil Jean-Pierre, in normal times beach vendor. “I come here every day to see if my chairs and umbrellas are still there,” he says. I ask him how he can manage without money. He smiles. “My godmother makes me lunch. She lives in Fort William.” He points to the hill at the end of Great Bay Beach. “Every day, walking up to the house, children come out onto the street begging for food. Very sad!”

He stares thoughtfully in

A day earlier, day four of the state of emergency, Downtown Philipsburg has a friendly atmosphere. Dozens of residents go out to chat

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front of him. Then, in a tone as if trying to convince himself: “The cruise ships will return on 12th of May. That’s in a month. Then we can make money again.”

On Front Street, Zongo is waiting for a lady who lives across the street and will throw a few dollars down for him from her balcony. Zongo has been living on the street for six years, he sleeps on Great Bay Beach. He is often under the influence of drugs, but not today, he looks bright and smiles broadly. “I’m not short of anything,” he says

when I ask him how he is doing. “I eat three times a day; Indian, Chinese, Caribbean, people’s homemade food.

Dushi, hombu.” His bed is a beach chair with mattress, which he has on loan from the owner. Now that the vendors are at home, he uses two market stalls on the beach as accommodation.

Zongo (52) was born in Curaçao, as Sesal Sambo. That cannot be verified because, he says, “The police have my passport and other papers.”

He shrugs. “It doesn’t matter: I’m happy. Even without

18 IN an ID.” He sits down on an office chair, the wheels pressing into the sand. “Corona is a lesson to humanity. Whether you are St. Maarten, Dominican, Jamaican or Indian, it affects everyone. Everyone is equal: color, origin, whether you are poor or rich, young or old, it doesn’t matter anymore. Everyone has to stay at home.” He frowns, continues: “I think it’s good. People are confronted with themselves and have to think. A lot will change. But that’s okay.

No hay mal que por bien no venga. (Every disadvantage has its advantage, ed.)” He concludes, thoughtfully: “So far, much has been tried on St. Maarten, but little has been achieved. Now people will have to help each other to move forward.”

At home I make tea from Moringa leaves that Zongo brought. The sound of the waves breaks the silence. The sea throws a new load of sargassum onto the beach and swallows a large amount of sand. On occasion chained up hungry dogs whine, otherwise it is quiet in the neighborhood. A handicapped man who daily feeds chickens in the alley in front of his house complains that there is only a single chicken and rooster left. “People in the neighborhood are catching my chickens to eat,” he says despondently.

After a day without food, 71-year-old Weldon Richardson has new stock in the room in the guesthouse where he is staying.

“The supermarket on Pondville Road is doing delivery, thank goodness,” he sighs. “I had a good breakfast this morning.” Richardson is a Yacht Delivery Captain from Bermuda, he had brought a sailing yacht to St. Maarten on behalf of the owners and was unable to fly back to Bermuda due to the closure of the airspace. Now he is sitting in his room all day or hanging over the railing of his balcony staring at passers-by

who ignore the stay at home measure. “You are breaking curfew,” he shouts at me. I explain to him that I have a Media Disaster Pass and that I am doing news reports.

Richardson eagerly starts to tell his story: “I’ve been bringing boats to various destinations around the world since I was eighteen. In Bermuda there are eleven sailing races with international participation. The owners of those yachts often don’t have time to return their boats home after the race, they leave that to Delivery Captains like me. The company that arranges the assignments also arranges the return flight.

My flight has been canceled due to the lockdown.” He can’t afford to pay the rent for the room for weeks to come, Richardson says.

“I hope the lockdown is not extended. I urgently need medication. I suffer from prostate cancer.”

Sailboats are anchored in Great Bay, a few hundred yards from the shore. Anil sits under a canopy watching a dinghy as it slowly approaches the beach. The dhingy is empty, a man swims in front of it and pulls it on a rope. He is a Russian man and got into trouble on the water, the onboard engine stopped. Tourists staying in a nearby apartment call the Coast Guard, to no avail. The man decides to pull his dhingy towards the pier at Walter Plantz Square and ask for help nearby.

“I wouldn’t be comfortable either stuck on a sailing boat for two weeks,” says Anil. “Those people are now hungry or need something else. I would like to do delivery of groceries with a jet ski. But the Coast Guard does not allow jet skis on the water.” The five dollars that delivery boys from Domino’s get would have been a welcome extra, Anil agrees. “And a free pizza for the people on the boat.” Mouthwatering: “Who wouldn’t want that?”

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IN 19

‘People will have to start listening to

Rastafarians

in order to survive’ Just like nature, Touzah Jah Bash is thriving during the lockdown. His days are filled with planting in a garden that no longer suffers from the pollution from cars. Without the corridor of carbon monoxide between him and the sea, he now experiences what he calls ‘the fog from the ocean’, something he has been longing for all along. “Oxygen! Life depends on it.”

Y

ou can live up to 30 days without food, one or two days without water, but don’t hold your breath for longer than two minutes. “Oxygen is our first food,” says Touzah Jah Bash. “Yet every island has a road along the seashore, continually functioning. We are living within a circle of pollution, day in, day out.” He shakes his head in dismay.

“The trees and plants in the valley are flourishing, but not on this side, near the road.

Look at the trees, you can see it for yourself.”

Touzah Jah Bash. The farmer, the educator, the healer. And the prophet. A month before the lockdown he said: “For the destruction to stop, you have to wake up civilization.

I can’t do it, but nature will.”

What is the lesson to be learned?

“People who was ignoring the true value of the properties

of plants will have to reconsider. You don’t hear about a deadly outbreak of coronavirus among animals, only humans are dying from it. The few animals affected are confined by humans, in zoos, or secluded in a house with humans. But the animals that are free, they know what to do. Have you ever wondered how animals survived for thousands of years without doctors? Animals self-medicate, they know what to eat to heal themselves. I study them and learn from them what to eat.”

We have to study animals in nature to help ourselves?

“Yes. You see, during the dry months, the animals are sick; they have ticks, boils, rashes.

But when the rain comes and everything becomes green again, the animals thrive.

I knew a cow that was heavily battered during hurricane

Irma. She was cut by branches and had many boils with flies all over. She came by my kitchen and started eating a plant that I never saw a cow eat before. The third time she came back to eat the leaves of Man-Better-Man (Achyrantes Aspera, ed.), she lifted up her head and gave me the eye. It was the last time I saw her. About six months later I asked the owner: “What happened to the cow that was messed up by Irma?” He pointed at a tree. “The brown and white one, you mean?

Look, there she is.” I couldn’t believe it. What I saw was a brand new cow. No doctor had come. No chemicals were applied; the cow had cured herself completely.”

What do you eat in a day?

“I eat like the birds. I take the fruits from the trees while I work in my garden, and when I get hungry I dig up a sweet

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potato and boil it to eat. I am experimenting with a new way of planting, I am creating a herb garden.

Every year we lose many of the medicinal plants we have in St. Maarten. If we don’t study them now, preserve and cultivate them, we soon will be too far gone to recuperate the true knowledge of nature and healing. If we stick with the animals, value them, not just eat them, we will learn a lot from them.”

Do you eat meat?

“Once it had life, I don’t touch it. I haven’t eaten animal flesh or fish in 45 years. I eat vegetation because it was written that every herb bearing seed and the fruits of the trees shall be called meat for me. And the leaves from it shall be for the healing of the nation.”

Many people interpret the Bible differently.

“The children of Israel had no right to eat the birds that Moses gave them in the desert. But that is what they did want. Sometimes, even when we know that something is not good, when the majority wants it, it will be considered justified. Those who follow after may not know that it was the majority who caused it to be implemented and they just join in and continue with it. But we all know that flesh does not digest in the human body in 24 hours. And the food that you eat must digest and leave the body in 24 hours, otherwise it starts to rot. You end up with bacteria in your organs that should not be there, that cause diseases, and possibly tumors and other abnormalities.”

Do people see you as a medicine man?

“Well, yes, but my true calling is a spiritual man. Because of a lady, Mrs. Adams. One day

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she came to me and told me: ‘You have to take care of your people. I know that you don’t want to, because you say that you were not called to do that, but God would not give you all this for you not to help others. You know all the plants, you know them by name, and you know their properties. Then she showed me a plant called Chickweed that is good for fever.” A week later Mrs. Adams died. I remained with this sense of responsibility she instilled in me.

When a pastor came from Santo Domingo, and he presented himself as a bush doctor, I gave him the chickweed, and I asked him: ‘What is that?’ He tasted it and turned to a person that accompanied him. He told him in Spanish to tell me that this herb would kill any type of fever in less than 24 hours. He said it is the only bush that can do that. And that is correct. So I began from there, teaching people, encouraging them to use the herbs, make tea from it.”

How do you identify a sick plant?

“If a plant is free from insects that

attack it, then you know it is good for you to eat. We have a plant here that we call St. Maarten cherry. It is a mine of bacteria, a mine of worms, germs and fungus, whereas the Surinam cherry comes with no pests at all. So when people tell me about St. Maarten national fruit, I say: ‘Garbage. Giving people worms in their belly’.”

Many people don’t believe organic food is better, just more expensive.

“You eat this stuff from the supermarket that is full of fertilizer, chemicals, hormones and antibiotics, which causes tumors and sickness, but you are not going to accuse the food. Take an eggplant from the supermarket and leave it for a week to spoil, and you will see it starts to rot and it will have worms in it. Now take an eggplant from me, put it out there in the sun, and you will see that over the course of a few months it will turn yellow, then orange and finally brown, hard like a stick, and

you can pulverize it. My plants do not rot.”

What do you say to people who want to change their eating habits?

“Food is something you require every day, but not the same food continuously. You need variety to give you balance. The cycle of the earth changes once a month, every four weeks. Does a woman not have a monthly cycle? The moon changes and controls the human biology.

Our body doesn’t remain the same when the moon changes position. So if you drink the same herbal tea for a month, it becomes excessive and causes stress in the body. Moringa, for instance, is only good in moderation. Moringa is a medicine, and you don’t need medication every day.”

When is the last time you went to a doctor?

“I don’t visit doctors. If I go to a doctor, he will become my student.”

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The medical establishment does not recognize natural healing.

“We are living in an era where humans are forbidden to know the Truth. And if you don’t know the truth, you will rely on people that want to control you. True Rastafarians have warned humanity all along. We have taught you how to eat. We have shown you how to live in accordance with nature, and how to pass this knowledge, your legacy, onto your children.”

Rastafarians use the term Babylon. What does it mean?

“The Western society where everything is based on interest. Laws are being voted in for interest. Immoral laws are voted in in parliament because interest is attached to it. At that moment nothing can go good. It is about individual growth, it is about favoritism, it is about: give me something under the table. And this has to change. If you are elected by the voice of the people, you have to help the people. Your personal interest has

IN 21 nothing to do with it. You already have a salary. You have opportunity. You have gifts.

You have favors. All this is attached to you being elected.

What else do you want?”

Our economy is supposed to help the nation grow. It is helping individuals grow.

The nation is suffering. We came out of hurricane Irma, the deadliest thing that ever happened to St. Maarten. All the contractors who came to the island, all were saying that they came to help, in their mouth was help, but in their head was: we are going to steal from you. Look at my building. A contractor started to build it, he took half of the money and fled the island.

I will have to finish it myself. St. Maarten needs to be purged morally.”

Do you believe that Babylon will fall?

“In the early seventies there was a wave of Rastafarian knowledge and teachings warning humans about the

way they are living. And explaining them the way to live, what to start to do and what not to do. We tell them: Stop eating junk. Plant your garden. Eat your food. Your food is your medicine. Use the herbs for healing. Learn to know the environment around you, that is part of your life. If you don’t learn it, your children will not know it. You will not be able to pass on the legacy. There are consequences for what we do wrong. And anything we do good, we’ll have a reward for it. So today we, Rastafarians, are reaping the reward and those who chose to remain ignorant are reaping the consequences for not listening.”

If you say to people that they are ignorant and should know and do better, they might feel offended.

“When engaging in a matter, emotional words don’t have no value. Emotional words stagnate your efforts. They don’t deliver, don’t cure, don’t heal and don’t answer matters. If

people rely on feelings, they will never get out of it. You have to rely on facts and reality, only those two can help you. How you feel emotionally, when you are questioning yourself, or you are in doubt, confused, angry, all of those words release negative energy that stagnates the individual growth. We as humans, as adults, we should separate the positive words from the negative speech that stops everything good from happening.”

We create our own happiness?

“I can’t control people’s feelings, they themselves have to determine what is valuable and what is not. Only facts and reality can help you, regardless of how you feel about it. You have to start separating the good from the bad, and always chose good over bad.

It is that simple. Rehabilitate yourselves. And let the wisest among you be a servant onto others.”

FOOD FACTS Pumpkin for WEIGHT LOSS

Pumpkin speeds up fat burning. This is due to high levels of iron and vitamin B2, which ensure that more oxygen is absorbed into the blood and transported to body tissues. Oxygen is needed for the burning of body fat. Normally you will find absorbable iron more in meat than in vegetables, but pumpkin is an exception.

Pumpkin has few calories, has a slightly laxative effect thanks to the mannitol substance and promotes drainage. That makes pumpkin the ideal food for those who want to lose weight. Good oxygen circulation in the body also provides more energy.

The orange-yellow pumpkin fruit, like carrots, contains beta-carotene that the body converts to vitamin A. Carotenoids are important for eye health and protect the skin against UV rays. Pumpkin is rich in vitamin C - good for resistance and lowering of blood pressure, vitamin E for healthy skin, and folic acid (vitamin B9).

Not only the flesh is tasty and healthy, don’t forget the seeds: pumpkin seeds are very nutritious and prevent prostate complaints, according to scientists. Researchers in the United States have documented the link with pumpkin seed oil and found that pumpkin seeds prevent both prostate inflammation and prostate enlargement. Pumpkin seed is the only seed that is not acid-forming in the intestines. The kernels are alkalizing and help fight intestinal parasites, especially in children.

To benefit from the essential oil, try roasting pumpkin seeds. The roasted seeds can be sprinkled over salads, but can also be eaten like nuts. People have been doing this for thousands of years in China, where pumpkin seeds are considered food for a long life. In Mexico, ‘pepitas’ are indispensable in food, and in North America, Indians often ate them. While the flesh of the pumpkin is low in calories, the seeds contain a lot of calories. They are a nutritious snack.

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IN 23

A smart Caribbean island can be the high-end champion In the Caribbean, too little attention is given to the visitor segment of high-end clientele that use private jets to come to a destination. Better not consider them tourists or treat them as tourists.

Every passenger who arrives on a private jet is a potential investor in the region…, provided that the destination will meet their standards and criteria, and that they eventually fall in love with the island.

H

igh-end travellers will make the preferred destination part of their lifestyle and invest in that element of their way of life. They are repeat visitors and usually attract other personalities of their social circles to be their guest, which has a multiplying effect.

They appreciate authenticity, discretion, serenity, and locations where beautification and cleanness are taken seriously. Mediocrity and fakeness are unacceptable. Yet, they love some simplicity and a laid-back atmosphere in a luxury setting. And they’re trying to find what is ailing living in their country back home.

Tourism authorities who say “hmm, yes, we also want those ALSO”, are most likely not getting them. This segment does not fit in with cruise ship tourism or forms of over-tourism. This segment requires a different approach and strategy.

In the Caribbean there is a relatively small number of destinations that qualify for pursuing the development of this segment in a full out effort. Those are the ones where serious high-net-worth individuals should be able to explore the potential of a re-

turn of investment that may be different than you think; it is satisfaction and joy rather than interest rates on their capital. They have enough that already; they are looking for what is missing, a paradise resembling environment.

A safe living environment with an insignificant to zero crime rate is important to them. A stable reliable island government to deal with. Not to forget a quality infrastructure. They’re not looking for a highway to speed on, but they definitely don’t appreciate potholes in the roads. Yet, they love a somewhat rural atmosphere. They love a natural landscape that is beautified by orange blossoming flamboyant trees and pink flowering bougainvillea bushes.

Some islands that have the potential to attract this clientele, should consider joining efforts and form a task force or action group that focuses on this segment and come up with refreshing and useful advice and suggestions. No, not a ‘study group’. I hate that word ‘study’.

One doesn’t need a heap of accumulated theory collected in a report that defends itself from being read because of its thickness. The last thing needed is a committee that wastes hours

By Cdr. Bud Slabbaert

and keeps minutes. The group should definitely not be an assembled choir whose members can only sing the shanties of their own ship.

The taskforce should be an independent and impartial group and the members should consist of thinkers and movers-and-shakers with brains that are as clear as Bohemian Crystal glass. Persons who are not afraid to express themselves in straightforward wording which may be so hot that it singes the eyebrows of the listeners.

Why would you want this clientele anyway and what is the sense of this so-called wealth tourism or high-end tourism?

Finally, we are getting to the point! This is the clientele that spends approximately ten times as much per person than the average masstourism visitor. US$ 800 plus for a hotel room night is not uncommon. US$ 30,000 dollar plus for a week’s villa rent is not unusual. Got it?

It is not just the positive economic impact that characterizes this segment. Since this clientele does not accept mediocracy, the island is more or less compelled to upgrade its infrastructure, facilities, and

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services which may contribute to an improved overall standard and quality of life of the island’s community. This clientele is also willing to pay higher wages or charges for services. Just think about the saying ‘success breeds success’. A word of caution though. The improvements must not become a financial burden for the ‘native’ members of the island community.

Greed of developers must not hurt the common islander.

There are a few islands where the development of this segment could be successful.

However, it is necessary to prepare a strategy first. This is not a matter of opening a can of magic to have a fast food dinner on the table. This clientele does not visit vacation expos. Advertising doesn’t do the trick. Articles by reputable journalists in selected glossy lifestyle magazines may be one way to attract the attention. But before anything will be published, there needs be substance to base the article on.

It is wise for these few islands to form a task force as mentioned before. But why? Why a joined effort when these islands will be competitors with the same objectives? There is

no such a thing as competition.

The clientele will determine what it likes and what suits it best. Since every island is different and often unique, there are choices. First attract this clientele to the region, then offer the options, and the client will decide.

Not trying to do anything about finding new ways for improving the socio-economics of an island may be called complacency, I would categorize it as “The Continuing Art of Suffering in Silence”

About the author. Cdr. Bud Slabbaert is the Chairman and Coordinator of the Caribbean Aviation Meetup, an annual results and solution oriented conference for stakeholders of ‘airlift’ in the Caribbean which will be June 16-18 on St.Maarten. Mr. Slabbaert’s background is accentuated by aviation business development, strategic communication, and journalism.

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