St. Maarten News – Members of the Second Chamber Ronald van Raak and André Bosman visited the St. Peters District to get a first-hand look at what is taking place in the community.

Bosman said that people seemed to be very upset with the government “because they have been subjected to pay taxes and see that the big guys getting away with it.”

Van Raak said that there is “much anger in the people” with their own government. He also commented on vote-buying. “Politicians buys their way into government. They do not need voters since they buy their votes. Because of this there is a lot of distrust,” he said, adding that people reason, “if I have to vote then give me some money because there is nothing else, although it is all short-term.”

Bosman and Van Raak said they are so critical of politicians “because we love the people of St. Maarten so much. We could stay in Holland and mind our own business since we do not get any votes from the island and do not profit from it in any way. When we speak to people they totally agree with us.”

The people on the island are much more critical of the government and the politicians than we are, Bosman and Van Raak said. “So for us it is very important to hear from the people, especially the ordinary people in the streets what they think about St. Maarten. This gives us a lot of energy to continue to criticize the bad politics and the bad money.”

Bron Daily Herald