Marsdin launched as new
candidate on NA slate
TV show host Greg Arrindell also joins the NA team ~
PHILIPSBURG--Two more new candidates on the National Alliance (NA) slate for the April 20 Island Council elections were presented in the weekend. TV talk show host Greg Arrindell and Chief of Immigration Alfred Marsdin were launched on Friday and Sunday respectively as the new members of “team NA.”
Marsdin’s slogan for the electoral campaign will be “Why National Alliance? Because you deserve a better Government.” He started off his speech stating: “I was a Democrat, I voted all my life for Democrat, I have been a Democrat, my mother has been a Democrat, but when you see that your people are suffering under the Democrats you have to make a change.” This first statement was received with loud applause from the NA supporters present at Ferret House, the NA headquarters.
“Too long have our people been suffering, too long they have been treated as second class citizens in our own country. Too long we have been on our knees and they have us on our ankles now,” Marsdin said.
He also touched on allegations the he was involved in corruption. “I challenge anybody to find a skeleton in my closet,” he said.
He said he had been investigated on two occasions in the past, once after he bought a second-hand car and the second time after he built his house after Hurricane Luis, with the help of friends and relatives.
“What you see is what you get. I’m not a fake. I have run prosecutors out of here because they believe the Dutch run things. But I’m not afraid. They can put me in jail, but I will die for my rights,” Marsdin said.
Furthermore, he queried why Commissioner Roy Marlin was not being investigated “for buying a gas station, a roundabout, a hotel in Anguilla, for building a house in Pointe Blanche and for buying and building a property worth more than one million in Guana Bay.”
Marsdin believes it’s time for the people of St. Maarten to wake up to get a piece of the pie. “It is time that we stop these people from filling their pockets, from fixing for only their own elite friends and only a chosen few. It’s time for us to build a St. Maarten that is for our youth and grandchildren,” he said.
NA leader William Marlin introduced Greg Arrindell on Friday evening in the same manner sports stars are introduced when joining a new club. Marlin handed over to Arrindell an NA T-shirt and a cap for him to wear and present himself.
In his speech to declare his candidacy, Arrindell spoke of a long list of political concerns that he said he would address as an elected representative on the Island Council.
Tourism, economic development, education, agriculture, health care and improvement of the island’s infrastructure and transportation systems are just a few of the areas on which Arrindell said he would focus if elected as a member of the Island Council.
“For those of us who were born here after our parents came to our shores I say to you, listen to the tales of your parents. You will hear about a productive island with very industrious people. That spirit must be recaptured again,” said Arrindell
Education is very important to Arrindell and he has a strong desire to improve schools and educational institutions in St. Maarten. “At every opportunity, I have tried to help my friends, neighbours, brothers and sisters in St. Maarten. Now I need you to help. I want to be the Island Council representative for all St. Maarteners, regardless of their race, creed or colour.”
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