Dear Editor,
Is there a law that governs the amount of profit a supermarket makes on food items? Is there a profit margin that governs the pricing of basic food items on St Maarten? If there is one, is it being enforced? My curiosity about the aforementioned was spurred when on the June 29, I purchased 4 boxes of Soy-Vida (Gloria Product) from Sunny Foods Supermarket at Fls. 4.15 each.
After checking my receipt and other supermarkets to compare the price, I returned to the establishment to inform management that the item was overpriced. A supervisor checked the price in the computer and affirmed that it was correct. When I tried to explain that the item was overpriced, I was additionally informed that, "This is Sunny Foods." Should we, consumers, assume that this supermarket could sell an item at whatever cost comes to mind?
To date, other supermarkets still sell the item for approximately Fls. 3.00, conversely, Sunny Foods exhibits the similar price on the shelf, but the cash register does not reflect same. Is it alright for these establishments to have such variations in prices on basic food items?
Did Sunny Food purchase a new batch of this beverage at a higher cost, hence, the escalation of the retail price one guilder something more than the previous batch? Did the other supermarkets purchase an extra-large batch of soy beverage permitting them to retain the original cost?
I believe there needs to be a designated price mark-up on basic food items, and stricter supervision of the price application supermarkets employ.
Frugal consumer,
Tracy Joseph
Dear Editor,
As someone with keen interest in the tourism industry, I question the procedure of appointing the director of the St. Maarten Tourism Authority (STA).
Last Saturday, this newspaper announced the new STA director Rolando Brison. This announcement was made by Minister Ingrid Arrindell accompanied by MP Silvio Matser. Two days later the headline of The Daily Herald accused the new director of embezzlement of a substantial amount while employed at Winair. Mike Ferrier stated that Brison admitted that he embezzled a substantial amount of money from government-owned airline Winair. Brison denied the allegation in an invited comment and that he would seek legal advice.
Rolando Brison is a young St. Maartener, and I am 100 per cent in support of young people from the island obtaining good positions in whatever organisation, but for the position of STA Director you have to have a clean record. Minister Arrindell and MP Matser should have been more careful before announcing Mr. Brison.
On Wednesday, August 17, the Today newspaper also stated that Brison embezzled money from Winair. The paper mentioned an amount of US $41,000 and the newspaper said that this appears from documents they have in their procession. The paper even states that Brison was “in a bit of a troubled situation” and that instead of returning the funds he received from pilots and crew, he used them privately.
The same day The Daily Herald published an article based on an interview with Rolando Brison, the “new STA-head” said that the issue revolved around a petty cash box at Winair. This box was used for, among other things, food allowances, flight department expenses, allowances for overtime and other small expenses. There was no lock, no key and anyone could access this box. “All seven of us used it freely on a daily basis. No one controlled our use of these funds,” Brison stated in the article. Nobody could account for this cash, and this went on for four years. How is it possible that this happens in a company on St. Maarten, and especially a government-owned company?
The August 18th newspapers both announced that Mr. Brison was never appointed as a STA director. Minister Gibson of Finance (and Vice Prime Minister) said that “STA director Rolando Brison had not been appointed by Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Ingrid Arrindell.” Minister Arrindell had informed the Council of Ministers last week Tuesday that she had not appointed Brison, but that she would hold a press conference concerning the issue soon. The picture on Saturday’s front page shows Brison and Arrindell signing an agreement while MP Matser looks on with a big smile.
I think that a clear explanation is warranted to the people of St. Maarten.
Jelle Hamstra
Democratic Party (DP) Candidate #9
Dear Editor,
It is very disconcerting when blatant untruth is published to instil fear into the community in order to get political mileage. It is one thing to make empty promises of grandeur and bling to the people during election time in order to try to get votes but fear-mongering is going too far. Case in point is the article regarding the new St. Maarten General Hospital published recently by some media, coming from the Vice President of the UPP.
When reading the article it is clear that whomever drafted this article did not know the facts or purposely chose to misconstrue and misinform the general public. The true and correct facts will dispel what is being claimed. I leave it up to you the reader to discern the truth from myth and come to your own conclusion.
It is true that SMMC has been losing money mainly because the tariffs the SMMC charges have not been adjusted to keep pace with the cost of providing the medical services and the unpaid services to undocumented patients at the health care institution. Notwithstanding this situation, the SMMC has not received subsidy from government for over 10 years. This has put the SMMC in a difficult financial position that was resolved partly by adjusting the budget and tariffs but also by expanding the services being provided.
To be specific, services that have to be provided are those for which thousands of patients are being sent abroad to receive treatment. An average of 26 to 30 million guilders is spent each year on medical referrals abroad by the SZV, this does not include medical referrals by private insurers.
Expanding the hospital and its services will result in less patients being sent abroad and being treated closer to home. At least 40 to 50 per cent of what is spent abroad will be redirected to the local economy. Ultimately this will result in improved quality of health care for the citizen of St. Maarten and better management of the health care cost in general.
In order to make this a reality the Tripartite Committee has been established where Government, SMMC and the SZV take part and work together to find balanced solutions for the issues of the SMMC. Based on the concerted effort by the Tripartite participants we have tackled the prevailing issues such as new tariff structure, care demand, proposed partnership with regional medical care facilities abroad, telemedicine solutions, cooperation with the French-side hospital, new general hospital and the transparent bidding process for the build, finance and maintenance solution for the new hospital.
In coming up with solutions, not only did we look at what has to be done from the health care perspective but also what has to be done on the income side of both the hospital as well as the SZV. Instead of going for the easy solution of increasing premiums it was chosen to work on the compliance side regarding the registration of businesses and collection of premiums.
The SZV has taken steps to increase compliance by delinquent businesses and we already are seeing the fruits of the steps taken with an increase of contributions collected in comparison to the previous years of at least 20 per cent. In this way we prevent having to increase premiums.
Work is also being done to make and implement health reform policies in order to expand the insurance coverage to those uninsured groups and measures to manage health care expenses better by eliminating waste.
As to medical tourism solutions that others imply that they had or have to increase the client base for health care in St. Maarten, the following: Why would St. Maarten entertain groups that profess they can bring medical tourism to St. Maarten while expecting that St. Maarten has to put up all the financing to build facilities for these groups to rent for a limited time while not bringing any equity to the table? So they will reap the profits but St. Maarten has to make all investments.
In a report based on a study of a team of British researchers led by the University of York of 2013, Dr. Neil Lunt says, “Our message is: be wary of being dazzled by the lure of global health markets, and of chasing markets that do not exist.”
By having a larger modern hospital locally owned and managed we can attract qualified specialist as well as other specialism that presently are not being offered, but are highly necessary, in such way, making it possible for our population of St. Maarten/St. Martin as well as our neighbouring islands to get improved health care service.
You are urged not to be fooled by fairy tales and too-good-to-be-true stories. Solutions to solve our problems have to be pragmatic and do not have to take into consideration self-interest and nefarious agenda’s.
Reginald Willemsberg
Democratic Party Candidate # 7
Dear Editor,
The new hospital has been announced. Politically – perfectly timed, but, let us look at some key areas of concern.
The current St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) loses money and needs to be subsidized in the millions of dollars annually. Making the hospital larger will not automatically mean that the losses will end. There is a very, very good possibility that the losses will increase.
A larger, more modern and more expensive-to-run facility will cause an even larger subsidy requirement, whether from Government or the Social Health Insurances SZV. Where is the plan to offset the increase in expenses that the larger facility will create? Any increase in subsidies for the larger hospital will either mean an increase in taxes on the people or an increase in SZV premiums for their services which would target businesses. In either of these situations, the citizens will ultimately suffer. That is not acceptable but, obviously, not high on the Minister of Public Health’s list of concerns.
The simplistic approach of the Minister of Public Health is that if Sint Maarten builds a new and larger hospital, more people will come. Really, does a new facility improve the quality of care or perceived reputation of the facility to the citizens and the region? What will improve the quality of care and the perceived reputation is the ability to attract qualified specialists in the primary areas of care the island needs.
This can only be done if there is sufficient business for these specialists to earn the living they envision. This can only be achieved through a well-conceived plan to broaden the worldwide interest in the new hospital. The UP plan was to do this thru Medical Tourism – a word now intentionally avoided by the Minister of Public Health and the Council of Ministers.
A more modern hospital is needed nobody would argue that, and this has also been the premise of the UP Party as well, however, the financial root cause of the issue behind the losses to the SMMC and the expenses of the SZV is the lack of specialists on the island, thereby causing many, many millions in travel expense alone to other countries in order to meet the health needs of our people.
Unless the lack of qualified specialists is solved thru a well-planned and feasible approach – as was the case thru Medical Tourism – the problem of losses to the SMMC and higher expenses for the SZV will continue and even increase as the local population gets larger and older and the new facility calls for an even larger subsidy.
The UP Party had the complete solution: A modern hospital where specialists would have been available and not as a financial burden to the SMMC or the SZV. These specialists would have been the financial responsibility of a separate, independent entity. These specialists, when treating SZV patients, would have gotten paid at SZV rates since these lower rates would be offset by the much higher rates paid by international patients under the Medical Tourism plan. In other words, the local population would receive top quality medical attention at SZV rates, therefore, neither increase in premiums for the business community nor an increase in taxes for the tax payer!
Had there been any concern for the island and not just for political mileage that this Government embarked upon from the onset, the Minister of Public Health should have seen the value of the UP plan and taken it over then build it to his liking. After all, his background is tourism and not the medical field. He should have seen that the UP plan would not only solve the medical issues of the island but also broaden the base of the island’s economy: tourism.
For years, there have been calls for broadening the base of the island’s economy. The UP’s new hospital plan was a strong step in this direction. Medical tourism is an approximately 100 Billion dollar industry worldwide and it would have been added to cruise tourism, stay-over tourism and timeshare.
Shame on you, Minster of Public Health, for not doing this but opting to play politics instead which will ultimately end up with higher premiums for the business community to pay as well as higher taxes for the tax payer.
Tatiana Arrindell,
Vice President, United People’s (UP) Party
Dear Editor,
Please allow me some space in your newspaper to address BillyD.
BillyD, I listened to all of you wonderful people on your radio station tonight making me the “bad guy” and turning Rolando Brison into the poor victim. More power to all of you. You, however, made a statement that “you told Michael Ferrier to go to hell.” If you are a real man, you will go on the program next Tuesday and practice what you often preach – tell the truth.
Tell the people why after supporting your station from the day you went on the air for the first time, I cancelled our advertising agreement with SOS Radio on or about 2 days after the 2014 Dutch-side elections. Dig deep and tell the people the truth. Not your version of the truth, but the real truth.
Regards to Fernando, Suja, Chris and Rolando. They are a fine bunch of people, some born here, some (Fernando for sure) like me, born on Aruba. But I guarantee all of you the following: you may love St. Maarten as much as me, but none of you will ever love it more than me! And that goes for those of you that “born here,” while I was just “born to be here.”
And by the way, just like you, I am not afraid to tell anybody to go to hell if they deserve it. I owe no one and no one owns me...And best of all, my conscience is clean like a whistle.
I hope you and your fellow radio talk show colleagues can say the same.
Michael J. Ferrier
