Dear Editor,

We call ourselves country, but failed miserably to maintain a stable government over the years. In the past, most folks would have had their evening meal by 7:00pm, and seated in their favourite chair in front of the TV, anxiously waiting for the news to come on. But I am so sorry to say, that was the past.

We call ourselves country, but we depend on other TV news providers, like Caribe Vision to show and tell us what is going on around the Caribbean, and we rely on NBC, ABC, CNN and CNBC to show and tell us what is going on in the USA and around the world. But who is keeping us informed about what is going on right here at home?

We pick up the dailies in the morning on our way to work, and we read bits and pieces of this and that. That initials B.S. and F.T. held up a casino at gun point, and that P.C and D.C were involved in numerous home burglaries and are known to the Police. And that PM M.G. says he is not moving no matter how hard W.M. and his sidekicks try to push him out the door. The senior citizens of this island are left in the dark as to what is really going on Sweet St. Maarten land.

My recent heated discussion was about when AVS news was on air, all those politicians held press briefings and appeared nightly on the news. We were not very well informed then, but we still got to hear and see a little about what they were up to. Many of these politicians wanted nothing to do with Oral Gibbs talk shows when there was an AVS News. Most of them openly stated that they will never appear on Oral’s Gibbs shows.

So now what do we have? No local news on TV, just a bunch of music videos of all sorts and half-dressed singers gyrating all over the screen. And then faithfully, on comes Oral Gibbs talk shows at his scheduled time.

In my heated discussion with a friend, I stated that Oral Gibbs should start charging a fee to those who request airtime on his talk shows. Most recently when I sit back to enjoy OG’s shows, I am staring in the faces of politicians and those appointed to a governmental task that I never saw or have rarely seen on O.G. talk shows. There seems to be more frequent appearances these evenings. I guess it is because of all the political turmoil hanging in the balance, and the next MP vying to be the next PM.

I am sure OG is not being paid to accommodate these persons, but night after night there is one MP after the other on his talk show. I also noticed that most persons use OG’s show to showcase a product or a service at no charge ~ I am guessing~ but come the following day these same people place big ads in the newspapers that we all know are not free of charge.

My point is OG has stayed around on the air when many others threw in the towel. My mom used to say, Good old reliable OG. So why not pay Oral Gibbs handsomely to bring the local news across to the public of St. Maarten for his World Star Studio? (WSS)

If asked, I am sure Oral Gibbs will find a way to make it happen from his studio.

It is time to get with the program and bring us local news. The people have the right to know about the melee that is going on right here on St. Maarten. And we won’t mind if you throw in a little bit of melee from Saba and Statia too.

Press briefings by S.W.W, T.H, F.R, F.M, G.M, S.J, L.M-R, Dr. L.R, C De W the PM M.G and all of the other missing political initials are welcome, but it’s all about the local news we want to hear.

Local citizen G.M.

Name withheld at author’s request.