Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG--The private sector soon will be asked to adopt public schools in an effort by the United People's (UP) party-led coalition "to reallocate responsibility to the business community."
This outsourcing seeks to persuade businesses to contribute to the community "in a productive, structured, visible manner," according to the UP-led coalition's "Ready to Work for You" 2014-2018 Governing Programme submitted to the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet on June 9.
It is now up to the cabinet to formulate an execution policy for the "Adopt-A-School" programme in which the private sector will have to participate. Whether participation will come with tax reductions and/or other incentives was not stated in the Governing Programme. Consequences for non-participation in the programme, if any, also were not outlined in the document.
Businesses will ensure that public schools in first instance and other schools thereafter are maintained and sustained throughout the year under this to-be-implemented programme, stated the coalition.
Government will "no longer have to be concerned with the extra cost of maintaining public schools," said the coalition in its roadmap. "This is a win-win investment."
The coalition also has instructed government in the Governing Programme to hold companies "accountable for questionable practices" that lead to workers retiring without any source of income at age 60 or older.
The Labour Department and Inspectorate of Taxes "must do their part in cracking down" on businesses that deduct premiums from their employees' pay cheques, but have not registered them and are not paying anything in taxes to government on behalf of the workers, while the workers are in the dark about the situation.
In addition to the Adopt-A-School project and the instruction on cracking down on premium defaulters, a healthy homes programme, caring for the aging population, implementation of e-government and electoral reform are among the areas the coalition plans to tackle in the present four-year governing term.
At the time of the submission of the Governing Programme, signed by coalition partners UP, independent Members of Parliament (MPs) Cornelius de Weever and Leona Marlin-Romeo, and United St. Maarten Party (USP), the cabinet has been working without a coalition-formulated roadmap. The coalition has been in office since October 10, 2014, and the Cabinet from December 19, 2014.
The coalition stated in the Governing Programme that it envisions St. Maarten "as a socially and economically sustainable country that embraces freedom and equality, promotes solidarity, and ensures justice and integrity while building a strong, unified and healthy nation that provides opportunities for all."
The coalition's vision is to realise an enhanced quality of life for the people, ensure the execution of good governance, focus on and ensure sustainable growth, financial discipline and management. The goals of each of the seven ministries are shaped to coincide with those objectives.
The signatories to the Governing Accord 2014-2018 have agreed to have among their priority areas for the governing term arriving at a decision on the integrity reports and execution of recommendations; establishment of the gaming board; strengthening of the National Detectives ("Landsrechercheurs"); a plan of action for the Tax Department; and the execution of financial and operational audits of government-owned companies.
Also on the priority list is finalisation and implementation of the changes in the Civil Code to regulate short-term labour contracts and finalising (publicising) the process to execute Article 10 of the Labour regulation on the counterpart policy, as approved by the Council of Ministers on August 12, 2014.
In the short to medium term, the coalition will seek to implement projects that reduce energy cost through waste-to-energy technology, further introduction of renewable energy technologies through the Energy Policy, and providing incentives for identified target groups to facilitate the transition to an energy-efficient society.
Care for Aging
As the country's aging population (60+) continues to "consistently" increase, it is "imperative" for government "to take immediate holistic measures to maintain and sustain the aging population," said the coalition.
The coalition partners have "recommended" to government, in structuring the present situation, to appoint "a monitoring agent" with a skilled individual in the field of aging to ensure the entities providing care have a standard by which they must operate.
Government is to monitor the efficiency of transportation services, as there are no norms regulating what is to be expected when rendering service to seniors. Benchmarks must be established "to force individuals into realising service is first and foremost the business they're in, revenue-generating second," said the coalition.
Government must maintain and expand existing community help desks.
"Congregate dining facilities" are to be created to foster social interaction and to provide nutritious meals for seniors, recluse persons and handicapped people who may not have relatives to cook for them on a daily basis, according to the Governing Programme.
Healthy Homes
The objectives of the "Healthy Homes Project" is to rebuild homes in needy communities and create humane, safe, secure places of living for those who have been impacted severely by natural disasters. This is to be executed by St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation.
"This initiative has never been done before and it gives back to the community/families, showing that the government cares," according to the coalition. "People affected no longer have to wait, because there is a programme in place, once qualified, to assist them in feeling human again and living in a secured home."
The project will have "an indisputable positive impact" on the community and includes developing housing for members of the uniformed services (e.g. police).
No price or further information about how the project will be executed was given in the Governing Programme, which also outlines the list of items per ministry the coalition wants to see the Cabinet execute.
Community Councils
The coalition, in collaboration with the cabinet, wants the Community Councils to be able to function in an efficient, structured manner that will benefit the communities. This will allow Community Councils to have a greater impact and a more structured and meaningful role in the communities.
Strengthening the Councils will "alleviate the need for individuals to seek handouts during specific periods, and have them turn to the Community Councils for assistance," cited the Governing Programme.
Specifically how the Community Councils will be strengthened was not stated in the Governing Programme.
Summer School
The establishment of a summer school programme is an objective of the coalition. This will give students the opportunity to move to the next level via an intensive summer school programme based on their failing subjects. Students will be tested at the end of the programme with a standardised/centralised test that will determine whether they will be promoted to the next grade.
The programme will give students the opportunity to be promoted, thus directly implementing "a no-child-left-behind initiative. Students no longer will have to repeat a year based on failing one or two subjects," said the coalition.
No target start date for this programme was given in the document, or whether it will come at a cost to parents or be absorbed by Government.
E-Governance
The coalition wants all ministries to have the tools to enable them to function in an efficient manner through the usage of technology, data synchronisation and the implementation of unique identification numbers.
This move to e-governance seeks "to reduce the redundancy and bureaucracy" of Government, will ensure that accurate and reliable information is distributed to all stakeholders and reduces the risks of identity fraud.
Information will be readily available on a read-only access basis, allowing Ministries to offer better services to residents, stated the Governing Programme.
Electoral Reform
The coalition noted in the document there are "multiple objectives" to having electoral reform, with the main objectives being "to assess the current electoral laws" and "to analyse the errors made in the last election, based on lack of clarity in the law as it was not written in chronological order." The analysis also should include implementing of electronic voting as written in the law, according to the coalition.
