Dear Editor,
As promised the continuation of my thought about professionalism. In my former letter I challenged whomever is involved in hiring professionals, to produce their diplomas or certificate for the type of job that they are doing.
Long before Irma this was going on, now it is worse. In 2002, because of that over-qualified melee, I was in a meeting, I brought it up and offered to personally control diplomas and certificates to establish how many qualified workers are in the right employ. Numbers talk louder than hearsay. I was told that we would have to rearrange the employees sheets by the Labor Department and whatnot. That died a natural death as with everything that will protect the local man.
I always think of the Bushiri Hotel in Aruba, which schooled so many native Arubans who have been employed in the tourism sector in Aruba. Everyone from everywhere is some kind of a repairman. None can give you a receipt describing their work and you constantly have to call them back because of faulty or incomplete work done.
Car dealers have sent mechanics to courses in order to be able to upgrade themselves or familiarize themselves with the changes in certain models. Not long after his return that mechanic goes out on his own and becomes a so-called great mechanic under some tree or to the side of the road and that issue is never addressed.
As supervisior of the control unit I was asked to be lenient in some cases (friends of the elite) as long as they did not overdo it. Pond Island began the same way. Not for the same reason, but in the same way. We are not going to overdo it. Now we have to add another landmark to the map of Sint Maarten: Pond island Hill. We should be reminded that soon we will need to put up a red beacon for the planes.
Everyone knows the dilemma with the dump. Elections and the forming of a new government has put that on the back burner right now, but I say this is the time to put that in the governing accord. People in town and in Cole Bay will be still suffering as long as that hill is there for there will always be fires.
A new government. A new minister with another deal and the dilemma continues. Demand diplomas or certificates from those who claim to be repairmen. No work without immigration papers. Register in the correct way at the Chamber of Commerce. Hold the employer accountable for sending repairmen without diplomas and certificates to repair house and other appliances. Do the right thing. No more quick fixes and, as I mentioned, the store owners should be the first people from whom we demand that they have professional repairmen for the products that they are selling.
And then the irony of the K-9 matter is that First Response is causing the confusion. I have always been against the names First Response and Sheriff for security companies. Those names should not be permitted here on Sint Maarten, because of the easy manner in which visitors could be misled.
Worldwide people know who are the first responders. First responders are not security and a Sheriff is not a security. Again I have had conversations about this with people who could look into it and have the names changed. Again, just like I am constantly told that it is difficult to regulate public transportation, I am told that it is difficult to oblige a private company to change their name. Have not businesses been making it a practice to change name and managers faster than I can change a piece of clothing? And do not these requests go around to the concerned departments for advice before being okayed and permits issued?
We are again in a rebuilding period and we even have more supervision from Holland directly involved in a whole lot more stuff. Would I be right in thinking that it should be much better organized and probably supervised now because the same people who investigate us and lock us up are as it were on top of things now? Which reminds me of the tune “Who’s to blame?”
Mediocracy: a system in which mediocrity is rewarded.
Russell A. Simmons
