Cusha Columns: The enigma that is Sint Maarten

The description depends on where you are standing. In his latest book, Cusha Columns – The Enigma that is Sint Maarten, businessman Terrance Rey peels off the different layers of Sint Maarten with the precision of a surgeon.
It reads like a detective involved in a shadow game.

Without unveiling the secrets that Terrance Rey reports in his book, we will give you an idea by adding some observations to his search finding the real soul of Sint Maarten.

The name Sint Maarten is controversial already and gives an idea about how complicated this search must be.
Is it Sint Maarten, St. Maarten, Saint Martin, SXM, Soualiga, Oulichi? Behind each of those names, you will find fanatic supporters.

Photo caption: Terence Rey donating 5 copies of his books to Project Manager Mr. P. Lucas

Another angle of his search is that the original inhabitants started to sell their properties to foreigners to attract tourism in the sixties. That went so well, that most of the prime locations are owned by foreign investors, and only thirteen percent of the population is, what Mr. Leopold James always stated, grass root or indigenous people.

Another aspect of the book is that it consists of columns originally written in Dutch for Kingdom Relations. Now, here is the question: does it give food to the biased opinion of the Dutch about Sint Maarten or does it rather create a context to better understand Sint Maarten and its people? Whatever it is this book should be read by anybody who is involved in the implementation of COHO.

In closing, maybe more people should speak themselves out about how they would describe Sint Maarten. Is it only about music, food, and (alcoholic) drinks or is there more under the surface and the sun? It would be interesting to see what other opinionated individuals think about this theme. Maybe such a discussion will lead us to the naked truth about the soul of Sint Maarten or maybe it will make us realize that Sint Maarten is a fusion of many cultures that have one thing in common:
you either like it or you hate it.