Dear Editor,

I want to congratulate St. Maarten for raising a fuss! I, like many others apparently, had my jaw hit the ground when I read the headlines on Monday's Daily Herald.

The admission of the blending of church and state was a dismaying thing to read. I was quite pleased to see how many have written in speaking out about it. Very bold, very accurate, and very refreshing comments from members of the population that obviously see things from an appropriately rational point of view.

I could comment on the grotesquely biased use of taxpayer's money to help build a structure which has no use for the majority of the island's populace. But that's been done. Or what the heck (I'd love to use a stronger word) the Commissioner of Tourism, Economic Development and Sports is doing, supporting and funding a project that has nothing to do with his portfolio. Really, who does he think he is?

But alas, I wish only to point out that the controversial statement made earlier this week is simply indicative of the immaturity of this island's government.

I mean, come on, the Governing body of St. Maarten is a mess. It has been for a while and certainly continues to be. It is the laughingstock of many other similar Caribbean islands (even our own island neighbours) and an embarrassment to the mainland Dutch population.

I won't go into the reasons. (Anyone who lives here knows and the editors probably won't give me enough room!). The point is that the admission of no separation of church and state is simply another sign of how far we've fallen down the ladder of professionalism. It's not a good sign. No other government (short of a dictatorship) would allow such a bold proclamation (whoa, hold on, alright you got me, the Bush administration claimed to have "God" on their side. Yah, look how well THAT worked out).

That's why I'm thankful this development has not gone by unnoticed. It is simply absurd. For instance, Richardson "argued" that "St. Maarten should not be influenced by the outside world." Are you kidding me? Right. Look how far it's gotten this island so far!

If anything, the Island Government should be studying how other governments run things so well! When administrations are run this badly you look to others for advice, you don't stick your head in the ground and make personally-based ill-conceived decisions that not only cause a greater divide, but make you look thoroughly unprofessional. But you have. And we the population of St Maarten have taken note.

So I ask you all to keep it up, people! This infusion of "God" into politics is bad enough, but as we can hopefully all see, it's simply another symptom of a government that thinks it need not be found accountable by the taxpayers. Let's not let them get away with it.

Clean up the crime situation, clean up all the litter, clean up the traffic, and for goodness sakes clean up the government. No God up anywhere gives a crap about those things. But tourists do, and without them where would we be?

Stephen Mathieu

The voice of reason in SXM