As Prime Minister of Sint Maarten, it is with mixed emotions that I address you today as we enter into what is considered the most joyous and festive season in our culture.
While we prepare to celebrate this Christmas season with family, loved ones and friends, we cannot help but to do so with an underlying sentiment of uncertainty and awe in our hearts.
2017 will be a year that will live on, for decades, in the minds of all who experienced the passing of “Hurricane Irma”, bringing with it major devastation to, not only our Economy but to each and everyone in it’s path.
It is with those sentiments that I ask you to take a minute and give praise and thanks for life, for where there is life, there is hope and the will power to strive onward.
The Christmas season as we know it, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, is about a promise.
A promise of hope, love and better times to come for all of mankind.
It is with that promise in mind that each and everyone of us must keep hope alive, share our love and strive forward in Unity, to prepare a better place for us all.
My fellow citizens, as I address you in my capacity as Prime Minister, most likely for the last time, I ask each and everyone of you to bear in mind that many, young and old, will be celebrating this Christmas alone, some mourning the loss of a loved one or simply in a mood of despair.
I call on you to put all (political) ill feelings aside and reach out.
Reach out to a neighbor, a friend, a loved one or even a stranger, embrace them and let them know that, there is a promise and together we will embrace and materialize that promise.
By standing hand in hand, St. Maarten will bounce back, stronger and better than before.
It is my strong belief in this promise, that I take this opportunity to bid you all best wishes for a blessed Christmas season and a joyous, safe, healthy and prosperous 2018.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
May God bless us all.
May God bless our beloved St. Maarten.
