SXMElections.com

Dear Editor,

Please allow me some space in your newspaper to address Member of Parliament Maurice Lake.

MP Lake, with interest I read your latest releases concerning making the University of St. Maarten the key institution in forming our young St. Maarteners to be the future leaders of our nation. Also, your recent statements about moving our country forward by executing projects, which will create jobs for our people who are struggling and suffering because of lack of financial income; nothing wrong about this.

But from my point of view I classify your remarks as pure political rhetoric and I will explain you why.

During our discussions concerning the sale of the Emilio Wilson estates we discussed the transfer of the 5000 M2 setback, situated behind the Emilio Wilson Park, to the board of the Charlotte Brookson Academy to build their new facilities there. This school is presently housed in the same university that you want to elevate to our key educational institute, which I agree with. But how will the majority of our students of the Charlotte Brookson institution and other secondary schools get to achieve their full potentials if they don't have adequate facilities at secondary level to prepare them to reach the university.

And not to speak about the rent the board of the CBA hast to pay monthly as lease for the classrooms. You don't build a house by starting with the roof.

Building the Charlotte Brookson Academy behind the Emilio Wilson has a lot of advantages.

The students can use the area to do outdoor activities and can be involved in the community activities like the upkeep of the EWE Park, keeping it clean and planting new vegetation. They can also possibly assist elementary schools with for e.g. their school trips to the park, thus acquiring basic leadership skills at a very young age to make them strong future leaders. Your argument was always that there are too many schools in the Cul De Sac Valley, which would only contribute to more traffic.

But how can this argument stand with the construction of the Rainforest Tram attraction park, which is scheduled to receive more than 200.000 visitors annually, which numbers will only continue to grow in the future. And furthermore, isn't the construction of the new roundabout at the entrance of Mary Fancy meant to alleviate traffic to the Rainforest Park and to the Cul De Sac basin?

What is more important, the education of our own St. Maarten youngsters or the filling of the pockets of foreign investors along with that of a privileged few?

What will benefit our island more and make it a country where integrity is at the top of the mast, proper education for all or keeping the mass dumb so that only a few can prosper?

I can clearly remember a public statement of one of your party members some time ago, who bluntly publicly stated that St. Maarten doesn't need people with Masters diploma's, PhDs and Doctorandussen to run the country. None of your party members ever distanced themselves from this statement, thus making it seem that this is the policy of the party. So if this is the common thinking of your party, why the need to upgrade the university?

Building a new school contributes to the education of our future leaders and creates job opportunities and income for households on our island. You had it in hand to realize these two important matters, but instead you put the interest of a foreign investor above the future of our own. A "meetbrief" was already prepared in order to transfer the 5000m2 to the Charlotte Brookson Academy. Instead you peddled off the 5000 m2 fast to RFT, which I find is of no significance to them to realize their attraction park.

That is why I consider your latest statements as pure political rhetoric. Prove me wrong.

Henri Brookson