POND ISLAND--A free app for smartphones has been launched to “empower” the people and bring them closer to the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Development, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI. The app can be found in the Google Play Store or the iStore by searching “VROMI.”
The app “puts the Ministry in the hands of the people of St. Maarten,” said VROMI Minister Christophe Emmanuel about the launch of the app at the Council of Ministers Press Briefing on Wednesday.
People can now bring their views and suggestions directly to him and his cabinet: “You don’t have to write to the newspaper or post on Facebook,” he pointed out.
Users can just “snap a photo and upload it to the app” as well as leave comments about situations encountered in the community.
Emmanuel said several comments have been received about the use of a “black fist” as the icon for the app. The response, he said, was simple; the image represents “empowerment.”
The idea for the app, created by local tech company St. Maarketing with the input of the “younger ones” of the Minister’s Cabinet, resulted from residents heading to the Minister’s Office, especially Fridays, with complaints, but often they are not armed with photos.
