Dear Editor,
I am not a person of the media, but as a born St. Maartener and professional, I have decided to speak out on this matter as I am feeling very belittled and insulted by the comments made by MP Pantophlet on the Wendell Moore show yesterday September 23rd, 2021.
The question posed was “if we as a country can manage our own Central Bank”. To my surprise, the good MP responded with “We need third parties assistance”
We as a country, especially our government is giving the Dutch Empire the ammunition to make a mockery, and mostly to be able to discredit us professionally because our own elected government has no confidence in its own people, advocating the opposite of good Patriotism and Nationalism.
Being one of the local professionals, I was expecting the MP to plant the first seed, that we as a country have the capabilities and a platoon of in-house professionals to own our own Central Bank. In my recollection a local banker of RBC was hired to a management position in the Central bank, so if we needed third-party assistance, why were our local professionals chosen to go into these Elite positions?
The bible says and I see this every time coming to play. “A Prophet is not without honor, but in his own country and among his own kin, and in his own house” and this is a great shame.
Presently Republic Bank, First Caribbean Bank, and Banco di Caribe have qualified locals at the helm of the institution, are they not qualified enough to form the team for our structuring our own Central Bank?
We have a qualified local that also served on the Central Bank board, is he not qualified enough? I can go on and on all of the qualified professionals that we have on our lovely island.
When will the SXM Governments start to recognize the qualities and professionalism we have right here? It’s a crying shame that we continue to neglect our own and bring persons from all over and give them the positions that we can occupy right here!
We are qualified enough to have MP’s, Ministers, an ombudsman, and a Governor, but yet we need third party assistance to manage our funds? Are you telling me that they as well are sub-qualified? Are you telling me that your MP is not qualified for the position you hold?
What makes Curacao more qualified than us to manage our money better than we can? Do I need to go back down memory lane when we brought in the “Temporary Turnover Tax” which we still have by the way, as a form of paying our debt to Curacao and we overpaid our debt to them, have we ever received back that overpayment?
As I don’t have the permission to call any names in my article pf the professionals, I will refrain from calling them, but I am more than 100% sure that we can fill every position needed to have our own Central Bank, from the structuring of the board down to the general positions needed to be filled and I am sure that they will be more than willing to take the helm of the Central bank of their island.
Please stop discrediting our people and give them the credit they deserve because we have earned it, not by politics but by exposure. We have educated and capable professionals right here, that are left aside of the road, rejected by their own local Government. It seems that it’s not enough being discriminated by the Dutch, because on top of it we are set aside by many of our own homebred Uncle Toms, with no offense directed to the MP.
This behavior shows me that this government has no love for its own people and is failing us left right and center and NEED TO GO HOME and stop destroying what is left of our little paradise under the sun!
S. Natasha Manuela-Gumbs BSc. CRM CQA CLA
