And what does the Department of Culture do to promote, expose, cultivate, stimulate culture? The Culture Club, another name of a group of concerned people; doing what? Folklore, old proven ways of doing things, articles for use in and around the house made in a particular way, different from somewhere else, from another culture. Historical cultural sites, rock carvings in caves, from a people long gone, ruins from buildings long out of use. The monuments of culture, we should have some here on Sint Maarten. But nothing is done to preserve them, we are losing out on culture. At our schools the children learn about foreign cultures, classical music from Europe, arts like dance, ballet, statues from the old Roman times, Greek and Egyptian. What does our department of culture do to bring cultural happenings to the island? Invite dance groups, musicians from other cultures, give performances to the young people who are going to be equals with those of same age groups from other countries instead of lagging behind and only know these cultures from books, Video screens and so. How many people work at the department of Culture and what exactly do they do all day? What do they get paid for, sitting in an airco office with computers and telephone? Will they organize street fairs with artists from all over? Or set up a group to preserve the remains of the old salt factory on Arch road? Or an art festival once a year like on other islands. If carnival is the only cultural expression of Sint Maartens people, what do we need a department of culture for??? Does the department keeps a list of all the artists on the island, all the dancers and musicians and painters, does it help them when these people need assistance for expositions, costumes, performances, rooms to exercise, rehearse and the like? The pan club is OK, steel band music is important for the tourists, however, all kinds of music can welcome a visitor. How much money does the department have available, where does it come from and for what is it intended? How much do the people working(?) at the dep. of Culture earn per month/year? What exactly do they do for the citizens of Sint Maarten? What justifies their salary? Let us have some cultural activity, before the IMF closes it down. Which is inevitable as it produces nothing.