Philipsburg:--National Alliance State Secretary of Health George Pantophlet considers it extremely worrisome the manner in which the frequency of controls are done on St. Maarten. Recent articles appearing in the media related to the sale of the band Amens powder and now the revelation that a wholesaler has been caught selling items for which he is not qualified are of grave concern. The Inspector of Pharmaceutical Affairs stated that pharmaceutical products (and permit me to add most products) are being imported without the necessary control. To make matters worse, according to the Inspector of Pharmaceutical Affairs this was done by the wholesaler with commodities they don't know about.Apparently the business in question was previously controlled in 2005 and was warned about this infraction. Now in 2009 it appears this practice did not cease. This discovery can bring one to conclude that this establishment has not been controlled in almost 5 years. That's a very long time indeed. One can only imagine what has been sold to unsuspecting consumers during this period and how many other businesses might be involved in this practice. The reason given by the Inspector for this lack of control has to do with understaffing and finance. That the authority for the inspection of pharmaceuticals is the competence of the Central government does not exclude our local government from its responsibilities. Remember we want to become a country. As a matter of fact I was informed that legislation exists that provides the local government with the opportunity to appoint someone in this field. I was told that at present this is now taking place. My question would be why this training did not take place years ago. However on the matter of controls in general what is being exposed here is a need for constant and vigorous controls not only on pharmaceutical items but also food items, restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, living conditions, working environment and the list goes on. We need regular controls. The idea is to create an environment that will serve as a deterrent to businesses and or persons who are involved in these practices. Where there is lack of control there are those who will abuse the system. Finally on the issue of controlling the importation of goods it is something both governments Dutch and French must sit down and find a solution for this long ongoing problem.
