PHILIPSBURG--As Parliament prepares to resume on Monday, United People’s (UP) party Member of Parliament (MP) Omar Ottley has outlined a series of pressing issues he plans to address, including underperformance in education, the lack of a liveable wage, the ongoing GEBE crisis, the treatment of seniors, and unresolved labour complaints.
Parliament is currently on a summer break and is set to resume on Monday. Ottley told “The Daily Herald” that the education system is failing students, with only a 52% pass rate at some schools, while seniors are being overlooked, workers are facing mistreatment and illegal hiring, and important issues like the Philipsburg marketplace and GEBE remain unresolved.
He also highlighted delays in Ministry of Public Housing, Urban Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI projects affecting construction workers and raised concerns about low morale in the police force.
“As Parliament resumes next week, I am eager to commence with the people’s business although we are on a break. As you can see, I have been vocal and instrumental in keeping the people informed on the issues,” Ottley said.
He pointed out that with students achieving only a 52% pass rate at certain schools, “we as a community or as leaders in government have failed to adjust our learning system, whereby our students can benefit.” He expressed concern over a lack of communication from the Education Minister, saying: “You are hearing nothing from the education minister on her plans to improve the educational level and this worries me.”
Ottley criticised the absence of action on establishing a liveable wage and responding to widespread reports of illegal hiring of foreign workers and mistreatment in workplaces. “There are also numerous complaints of illegal hiring of foreign workers and mistreatment within the workplace and yet we are seeing no significant action from the Minister or VSA [Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor – Ed.].”
Ottley also referred to the unresolved Philipsburg Marketplace saga, saying it will be among the key issues addressed alongside the GEBE inquiry. “So, these are just a few of the things … we will touch upon returning to Parliament besides the GEBE inquiry.”
He also highlighted concerns over the treatment of seniors during the past 15 months, saying, “There is no enhancement in senior care, no training and health programmes being advertised for seniors as it was in the past.”
On legislation, Ottley revealed he currently has five draft initiatives in progress. “At this moment, we are currently sending the profit tax reduction legislation to the Council of Advice. The next one is the LTU legislation, whereby we would deal with the stateless or undocumented persons in St. Maarten that were born in St. Maarten. This legislation is finalised and will be submitted to Parliament for debate.” He added that he is “eagerly awaiting the response from the SER [Social Economic Council] for my draft initiative that will finally curb the abuse of short-term contracts.”
Ottley also mentioned worker complaints involving construction sector delays and labour rights. “Some of the complaints that I’m hearing the most is one GEBE, the lack of work for construction workers, VROMI seems to be at a standstill and many construction workers are complaining … workers within the industry are not getting the attention when they complain of mistreatment at their workplace.”
He concluded by raising concerns about police welfare: “Last, but not least, I have been getting a lot of complaints from our police officers on the way that they are treated within their department. They are demotivated and unsatisfied with this treatment and lack of involvement from their minister.”
