(Curaçao Chronicle)
The Curaçao Chronicle of Thursday, March 2, reported a press conference held by the management of InselAir International (Curaçao).
“During their first month, the new management had to deal with a lot of bad publicity. They even had to deal with the U.S. Consulate banning its employees from flying with InselAir. The Dutch government also emitted a warning for its employees not to fly with the airline. Filiatreault considers these bad publicities unjust because it is well known what the problem is in Aruba. These types of publicity cause a lot of harm within the company. There is no pride right now among the employees for being part of the company.”
I think that monsieur Filiatreault got the scapegoat for his problems at the depaneur. Probably none of his colleagues of the management team of InselAir, made any efforts to translate the findings of the Netherlands inspectors that went through the administration of InselAir International, InselAir Aruba, and the CCAA (and were also in Aruba).
Following I made a free translation of essential and painful findings that are reported and that give us grave concern for the safety of the PJ and P4 aircraft.
-Sections of the local rules and regulations for a great part do not comply with international standards.
-There is no clear cut organizational structure.
-The majority of the inspectors are semi qualified and have between 1 and 2 years of service.
-The lack of a structured, powerful authority has its consequences in the air transport field.
-InselAir does not comply with the national air laws and regulations.
-Recently 45 of the 80 pilots have left InselAir.
-The situation of the air laws and regulations is well known with the ministry concerned, but there is no indication of any actions to solve the problems.
-The cooperation between CCAA and DCA (Aruba) seems to be limited, while with their common interests and the way InselAir is structured, more attention should be paid to this.
The Curaçao Chronicle has been publishing almost on a daily basis incidents, technical breakdowns, complaints, bad service, and court cases on InselAir.
On Monday, November 21, 2016, appeared in the newspaper: “WILLEMSTAD- The fleet of the Curaçao airline InselAir is composed of 17 aircraft. Currently, they only operate 4 of them. Some 12 of those aircraft are either damaged or going through heavy checks that instead of taking 45 days are taking months due to the lack of money. These aircraft are simply thrown in a corner of the airport that is known as the ‘graveyard’. This graveyard serves as a warehouse, where parts, components, engines, and fuselage parts are removed trying to keep the four operating aircraft flying”
On Friday, January 27, we read: "The Independent Member of Parliament Eduard Braam recently questioned the way Curaçao Civil Aviation Authority (CCAA) is dealing with aircraft maintenance of the local aviation company InselAir. “The media have been giving a lot of attention to the issues surrounding the local airline. Even yesterday, two aircraft were grounded because of faulty maintenance,” said the MP.
The bad publicity that InselAir is getting is not generated by Aruba, probably with a hint to the Tax Department. Fact is that a number of InselAir employees sued the airline because their taxes that were retained were not handed over to the Tax Department.
As to the technical and operational sides, InselAir’s management was aware that there were open findings and observations on the P4-aircraft.
So for monsieur Filiatreault to blame Aruba for bad publicity is an attempt to hide his own shortcomings. Probably the time is better spent finding and correcting the root causes of the bad publicity: the service that results from the non-compliance with laws and regulations in aviation, tax and labour, etc.
Agustin Vrolijk
Aruba
Dear Editor,
My name is Gereld D. Callahan; I am from New Hampshire, USA. I have been visiting the island for more than twenty years.
On Monday last week, one of my friends was coming from Mullet Bay and his chain was snatched by two guys on a bike, and then I was talking to other people in the Maho area and I came to understand that this has become a very common thing.
I would kindly request the Police to pay more attention to the Maho area because it is a very nice area and for years we have always felt safe staying there.
The Police really need to do something about what’s happening there. Talking to my friends and other people who owned timeshare in that area, they are deciding not to come anymore; this is not a good sign for tourism.
St. Maarten is my home away from home and we will really like for it to be more safe and secure.
Anticipating that this will reach the right source concerning this matter, I thank you for your kind consideration and cooperation.
Gereld D. Callahan
Dear Editor,
Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes takes a while to gain equilibrium in his or her line of duty. But, if the situation persists and the inability to perform one’s function comes into question, then this condition is critical – one that is impeding the progress of quality education and growth of this nation.
The manner, in which Public Education is being managed, reflects symptoms of total incompetence and lackadaisical attitude of the person in charge of this section of the ministry. This is a perfect example of a political appointment that has come back to haunt Government. However, this state of affairs can only be prolonged when the Minister of Education allows it to happen. After listening to last week’s Council of Minister’s press briefing, I am convinced that Minister Silveria Jacobs is distracted and completely out of touch with the reality within education.
When I heard the Minister say that she cannot intervene but has to let due diligence takes its course, she has just confirmed my view that the Division Head of Education is indeed the one who is in charge of the Ministry of Education. Minister, this process of due diligence has been in motion since 2012. How long will you allow this inefficiency and frustration of teachers to continue? Minister Jacobs, I’ve tried very hard not to make my perception of this situation public, but when I heard several disgruntled persons declare that you and Minister Emil Lee are heading straight for a vote of no confidence, it was time to make my thoughts known.
As I stated in my preceding article, the biggest blow to your ministry was your failure to publicise the process that was hijacked back in 2012. This situation has caused an unsettling feeling of distrust. Hence, with all due respect to the Governor, whom I’m very fond of, I do not to listen to any of his speeches because of this very situation. It does not matter if the circumstance surrounds a family member, the same procedure and degree of integrity must be applied.
Minister, do you realise that if you continue on this trend of due diligence, that the person in question would be retired before you could make any significant changes? And, that you would have contributed directly to the stagnation of education, the very entity that you are trying to promote? Is this the path that you have chosen Minister, and are you feeling comfortable with your decision?
Minister, in light of this disquieting situation, you really need to step out of your air-conditioned office and spend quality time with teachers, students, parents and administrators, in order to get first-hand experience of the real challenges that they are facing. It is so strange that when you were about to take up your post for the very first time, you encouraged teachers to stay in touch with you to maintain that close relationship. Now, all that openness has dissolved, ever since you have resumed your second term. Why is that Minister?
Furthermore, when a ministry is in crisis, part of the strategy of restructuring the institution is having the willingness to listen and to be open to counsel. This neglect has been the downfall of some politicians, who have great potential, but chose to be misled by their ego. Don’t let this be your legacy Minister Jacobs. In addition, a minister with vision of the 21st century chooses the most competent support group, based on qualifications, thinking capacities and a natural ability to communicate with the community. This continuous tendency of hiring friends and families, are what is hampering the progression of Government, because too often their contribution does not align with the demands of this evolving world.
Another striking comment was the issue of policies. Everything now is about this or that policy within the Ministry of Education, as if there were none before. How is it that the ministers, who are new to their functions, are taking immediate actions to improve their individual ministries? How come they are not stuck on policies? Do you need a policy to build toilet facilities on the Belvedere playground? Do you also need a policy to hold an island-wide awareness campaign of sexual abuse of minors? Perhaps it is easier to support an illusion that came into Parliament, but one of these days, the community will know the real truth to that story.
Minister Jacobs, the sphere of influence is in the palm of your hand. What is your decision? Is it to remain in the position of powerlessness or will you become that constant source of inspiration, for those whom you have the opportunity to serve?
Joslyn Morton
Dear Editor,
Last week, the Office of the Ombudsman held a very successful Open House, with the aim to inform the public of its functioning. For me, the highlight of the Open House was the very simple, yet profound, presentation given by the Ombudsman herself, Dr. Nilda Arduin.
The presentation centred on the topic “We, the People.” Dr. Arduin pointed out that in a democracy the people rule. She went on to compare a country to a house. As the owners of the house are working people and therefore unable to do their own house chores, they hire a domestic aid or servant to handle the chores and to run the household on their behalf.
Even when the owners are not at home, the house still belongs to them and they have the right to monitor and supervise the work of the housekeeper. If he or she does not clean the house well, does not wash the dirty clothes, or allows the dirty dishes to pile up in the sink, then the owners have the right to break the contract, fire that servant and look for another more capable and competent person. Logically, if the servant is doing a good job the owners will keep him/her in their service.
When we apply this analogy to St. Maarten, then the house is Country St. Maarten, the owners of the house are the eligible voters, the servant is parliament and the contract is our constitution. Important to note is that the first words of the Constitution read: “We, the people of St. Maarten.” Therefore, the most important group of people in the country is the people and not the parliamentarians nor the Government.
Since all the eligible voters in St. Maarten are unable to physically run the country, they elect fifteen candidates to do this for them. These candidates take the oath of office as parliamentarians to represent “we, the people” to the best of their abilities. So, in truth and in fact, parliament is not the highest authority in the country; it is “we, the people,” who “hire” the parliamentarians to run our country on our behalf.
In other words, the parliamentarians are our servants. We, the people, pay them extremely well and we expect optimal service from them. If we are satisfied with their performance, then we can retain them by electing them for another four years. However, if they are not performing their duties as faithful, diligent and competent servants, then it is our obligation as owners of the house to fire them by not re-electing them.
Since St. Maarten is our house then we, the people, must ensure that the candidates whom we elect are working well on our behalf and to our satisfaction. Hence, we need to continuously monitor our parliamentarians and let them know how they are performing. How can we monitor our parliamentarians?
We should listen, watch and/or attend the public meetings of parliament and the various committee meetings. Listening to our parliamentarians address the issues, one can tell whether they prepared themselves for meetings or whether they are just winging it. Regrettably, most parliamentarians do not prepare themselves very well. You will find them making general statements, making reference to previous statements, or just speaking off-the-cuff. Apparently, even our first-time elected parliamentarians are following the same trend.
Another way to evaluate our parliamentarians is to observe how well they are overseeing the affairs of Government. As it is impossible for fifteen parliamentarians to run the country by themselves, the constitution allows parliament to appoint seven Ministers to run the day to day affairs of the country with the help of hundreds of civil servants. Overseeing these Ministers and their related Ministries, divisions and departments is a humungous task. This is why Parliament also appoints advisory bodies known as High Councils of State which are: the General Audit Chamber, the Council of Advice and the Ombudsman. These advisory bodies report annually to Parliament on how Government is functioning. At times, they even dare to rap Parliament over the knuckles. For example, the General Audit Chamber informed Parliament in its October 2016 report on Administrative Appointments that the “lack of transparency is worrisome [and – Ed.] it constitutes a threat to the integrity of Government.” In its recommendations, the Chamber also advised Parliament to ensure that Ministers, representing government-owned entities, follow the appointment procedure correctly. One cannot get clearer or more specific advice than this. Yet, when last did Parliament call out a Minister on his/her actions? When did Parliament ever discuss the advices and reports of the High Councils of State and follow up on their recommendations?
Another way of evaluating parliament is to read its annual reports. In these reports, you would find out how many meetings our parliamentarians attended or did not attend. You would also get to know that during the past six years parliament received 86 draft laws from Government but only 44 were passed, a mere 50 per cent. You would also be surprised to find out that during the same period parliament itself only initiated and drafted one law namely: the Timeshare Ordinance which was passed on February 22, 2017. One initiative law in six years does not speak of a very productive parliament.
The house of parliament belongs to “we, the people” and if our parliamentarians, whom we have elected to represent us, are not doing a good job, then we, the people need to hold them accountable in the same manner that we expect them to hold the Government accountable.
Wycliffe Smith
Leader of the Sint Maarten Christian Party
Honourable Members of Parliament,
I, like many others, often say that you do not do anything.
Our reason for that is because we do not hear of, nor do we see anything that you do.
There are many issues that have to be tackled post haste and your sub-committees seem not to be aware of them.
Through this medium, I will present one issue, with high hopes that you can deal with it, collectively and quickly.
GEBE
Many of us have made sacrifices and invested in alternative energy/green energy. I, for one, did it knowing that, when I get to pensionable age, GEBE’s electric bills would be beyond what I can afford.
Now that GEBE is using their new metres, net-metering (metre spins backwards) is no longer possible.
I urge you to implore GEBE to allow net-metering until you have a chance to determine what would be paid to those of us, who over-produce (put more into the grid than we use).
It is simply unfair to us, to take energy that we produce and give us nothing in return.
The assistance to senior citizens is handled unfairly.
There is no rationale given, to explain what qualifies one for assistance.
Considering that GEBE is becoming a “political cash-cow,” I suggest the following:
GEBE gives every pensioner an electricity allowance.
The allowance would be as follows:
If pension is up to Fls. 700.00, Allowance is Fls. 200.00
If pension is up to Fls. 850.00, Allowance is Fls. 150.00
If pension is up to Minimum, Allowance is Fls. 100.00
It should not matter if they have a bill in their name or not.
They have to contribute towards electricity and water usage.
I understand that the second suggestion will take time to calculate, but the first one, net metering, can be dealt with immediately.
Respectfully,
Clifton R. Wilson
