Education, Labour and Crime should be priority areas
As St. Maarten makes the final lap towards its new constitutional status as Country within the Dutch Kingdom on October 10, Businesswoman and mother Zahira Marchena is hoping that the change would mean an improvement across the board for the community.
Marchena says country status can be a very good thing for St. Maarten, but it can also be a very bad thing if the Island Territory is not sufficiently prepared for the changes and the new responsibilities it will assume.
“As a born Antillean, I would like to see the best development for the country.”
She says the process to attain a new status should have been pursued in stages, with the community being fed the relevant information as the process moves along.
“I know they have been busy, but their priority should be to inform the general public on the conditions under which we are receiving country status.”
She says authorities could have made more use of the print and electronic media, for example, to get more information across to the public. More sessions could have also been held in the various communities to make the access to information easier. Other means of communication, such as leaflets, should have been used more effectively. She also thinks it’s very important that students at schools are aware of what’s happening at the constitutional level and that information also need to be trickled down to them as well.
Marchena says there are persons in St. Maarten, who are capable of leading St. Maarten into its new status and she is hoping that these capable persons will be given the opportunity to steer St. Maarten from being an Island Territory into Country.
Labour
As a businesswoman, Marchena is particularly hopeful that the constitutional changes will bring drastic improvements in the labour situation, so that employers can run their businesses more efficiently.
“Something really needs to be done about the labour situation,” she said. “We have to face reality. It is hard to get local workers to do certain jobs for you and the rules change too often,” she added.
Marchena, whose businesses include three nail salons, says she encounters challenges finding local persons to work in her establishments and when she does find non-locals, she encounters difficulties obtaining employment permits for them to work legally.
“Once I had placed an ad in the newspaper and only one local person responded,” she said. “I think that they need to be a bit more flexible for business persons. It seems as if there is a new rule every day,” she notes.
Her specific concerns are the lengthy waiting period for businesses to obtain requested permits, what she sees as high processing fees and the constantly changing rules.
“I strongly believe that our local persons have the first priority for employment, but if we can’t find them to work for us, then we should be able to hire someone else for that position,” she maintained. “And you don’t want to take any risks, because the inspectors can come and go with all of your workers.”
Marchena says businesses play a pivotal role in St. Maarten’s economy and not being able to fill vacancies in a timely manner can have adverse effects on businesses, which can trickle down to the economy.
Also, in the area of business, Marchena would like to see the business license procedure, which she sees as too cumbersome, streamlined under Country Status.
Education
There are approximately 1,200 students at South Reward-based Milton Peters College, which houses four educational streams in one compound.
Marchena says that when many students from different levels of education are housed in one location, as it the case at MPC, it can lead to challenges such as those that the school experiences with violence and clashes among students. “If we can build malls, then we can also build a school for our future generation,” she contended.
Authorities have announced plans to build three new schools in St. Maarten. These include a new Secondary Vocational Education (SBO) school in Cay Hill, an elementary school in Belvedere and a school adjacent to the still to be constructed SBO School in Cay Hill.
The businesswoman also believes that authorities should consider granting more scholarships to students.
Crime
Like many other persons in St. Maarten, Marchena is uneasy about the crime situation of late. She says the spike in crime makes her as a business woman uncomfortable.
She would like to see more police patrols on the streets and more in areas where businesses operate, particularly in districts such as Back Street at closing time. She says this is a time when businesses can be targeted and having police presence would make business persons feel safer. “Their presence should be felt during the entire day.”
On the environmental front, she would like St. Maarten to be an island without sewage water running on the streets in all districts when it becomes a Country.
Fears
Marchena knows that a new status comes with a price, but she is hoping that it would not mean that residents will be burdened with higher taxes. “I know that we will have to suffer [in the beginning]. At what price, I don’t know, but I am hoping that it won’t be through more taxes.
As St. Maarten moves closer to its new status, Marchena is keeping her eyes focussed on the developments and is hoping that through it all, a better and brighter St. Maarten will emerge.
