MARIGOT--Raymond Helligar, the man behind the movement to obtain pension payments from Social and Health Insurances SZV for the many French-side workers who laboured and paid into the system on the Dutch-side in the 60s and 70s, has placed his confidence in Raymond Jessurun’s strategy of attacking the issue through the human rights angle, international conventions, and the Treaty of Concordia.
Helligar said: “These workers, including myself, cannot obtain what is due to them because the workers were not resident on the Dutch-side at the time and did not file tax returns and were therefore not in the system.”
Jessurun, social activist, human rights defender, former government senior policy adviser for 22 years, and now vice-president of the St. Maarten Seniors and Pensioner’s Association has taken on the case and recently outlined his strategy at a public meeting.
“The issue is not about the little money you will get from the Dutch-side, but about equal treatment for a worker that has given his best to companies on the Dutch-side and who has also taken the loss in terms of paying contributions to government and the social security bank,” said Jessurun.
“One of the main conventions relevant to this issue is the International Convention on economic, social and cultural rights, ratified by France and Holland. There’s no such thing as saying you don’t have rights. Your rights have to be protected,” he insisted.
Jessurun also quoted articles from the1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights as basis for his arguments, highlighting protection of rights, respect, and non-discriminatory and equality principles.
“The non-discriminatory principle is the most important principle that we see being violated in this case of your old-age pension rights,” he stated.
Reacting to the meeting afterwards, Helligar said since he spoke out on this issue more and more pensioners who worked not only at Mullet Bay but other companies on the Dutch-side are coming forward.
“Some persons got through to get their pension because they either had friends in the government (Dutch-side) or someone gave them a Dutch-side address but I don’t think that’s right. If some got through what about the others?”
He disclosed a law was passed in the 1960s especially to allow French St. Martiners to work on the Dutch-side with a “Border Pass” that could be renewed every year.
“That meant we were working legally on the Dutch side. But today to tell us that we are not in the system is absurd. It’s not a problem of Dutch-side and French-side. The problem is about a bank that received money from our pay slips and refuses to pay it out. It’s unacceptable.”
Helligar said Jessurun’s presentation was thorough and understandable.
“We will fight this through his association which has already had some successes. There’s also an issue that if you live on the French-side you are only entitled to 30 per cent (of the pension). That too is wrong.”
“At some point we may have to notify Parliamentarians to change the laws so the social security bank, which is hiding behind the existing law, can pay out. That law is illegal where the international conventions signed by various countries are concerned.”
