Philipsburg: ---The Windward Islands Civil Servants Union WICSU (Windward Islands Civil Servants Union/Private Sector Union) is keenly following the steps of Lawmakers to address the plight of the SIBA (Sint Maarten Insurance Brokers Association) that is now widely accepted as unfair competition with commercial banks in the Netherlands Antilles as it relates to insurance mediation.
This is a known problem for many years without any action or intervention from competent authorities. That Parliament through the person of Mr. Pedro Atacho is willing to table this matter is commendable.
We have also heard and appreciate the statements from Senator Erno Labega that SIBA will be invited soon to give clarity to the Finance committee of Parliament on this matter, which is not only unfair to its members but also limits the public and by extension our members to freely shop around for affordable insurance coverage.
We have been following this situation for sometime now and feel that customers must be given a chance to shop around, FREELY before buying anything.
With this current practice to force a client to sign-up a document on the spot and tie them to a long-term contract is in our opinion undemocratic.
These are hard economic times and we must do everything in our power as community leaders and government in particular to take care of the financially weaker-ones in our society.
We therefore with keen attention look forward to the commencement of the process to implement legislation that would provide customers the freedom to choose.
WICSU Press Release