Dear Editor,
Anti-Poverty Platform to develop Minimum Reference Budgets for St. Maarten
We all complain about the high cost of living in St. Maarten, the non-livable minimum wages, the poverty, old age pensions, the inadequate social allowances and the lack of unemployment benefits. People have to work two or three jobs to meet their household needs. The Transparency International Report concluded that 75% or ¾ of the households in St. Maarten live in poverty. Poverty hampers adequate social participation. Poverty should neither be alleviated nor reduced, but poverty should be eradicated! Nobody should live in poverty! Poverty is a violation of human dignity and the human right to an adequate standard of living! For every adult, youth and child to participate adequately in society, everybody should have access to the resources necessary to comply with international human rights standards and social expectations. Everybody has the right to live an autonomous life and contribute to society. What are the minimum resources that households in St. Maarten need to live a life in accordance with human dignity? How can we guarantee that everybody in this part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands can realize the right to an adequate standard of living for the health and wellbeing of oneself and one’s family?
Transparency International’s conclusion on poverty in St. Maarten has been disputed publicly! Therefore the coordinators of the St. Maarten Anti-Poverty Platform have taken the initiative to develop Minimum Reference Budgets for St. Maarten. Minimum Reference Budgets will be developed for singles and couples with children and without children, as well as for seniors and non-seniors. The minimum resources needed to adequately participate in society will be determined for these categories. These Reference Budgets will provide budget information to assist individuals and households. It will enable to give more appropriate money and debt advice. It also enables us to evaluate the adequacy of benefits such as social pensions, social allowances and social tariffs for water, electricity, communication and transportation, etc. These reference budgets will enable us also to better address with government the eradication of poverty in our society.
The co-coordinators of the St. Maarten Anti-Poverty Platform are Ms Claire Elshot-Aventurin, Chairlady of the Windward Islands Chamber of Labor Unions (WICLU), Mr Raymond Jessurun from the St. Maarten Seniors and Pensioners Association (SMSPA) and Mr. Alberto Bute, Chairman of the St. Maarten Federation of United Non-Governmental Organizations (SUNFED). To develop the Minimum Reference Budgets they contacted the Independent Dutch Institute for Budget Information NIBUD. The NIBUD has assisted the government of Bonaire in 2013 with the development of Minimum Reference Budgets for Bonaire. The NIBUD appointed two researchers drs. Marcel Warnaar and drs Gea Schonewille with as their counterpart in St. Maarten drs. Raymond Jessurun, to guide the process in St. Maarten. The SUNFED will provide support for the coordination and administration. The preparatory work in St. Maarten will start during the month of February by a mixed group of local experts and consumers. A detailed list of essential goods and services will be prepared, and a price survey will be carried out to find out how much it costs for households in St. Maarten to have access to these goods and services. At the end of March 2016, the NIBUD researchers will be in St. Maarten to guide some workshop sessions to reach consensus on the minimum budgets for St. Maarten, after which a Symposium will be held to communicate the preliminary results. The final report will be delivered in May 2016. For more information contact drs Raymond Jessurun at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone +1721-5220925.
Drs Raymond Jessurun
Co-coordinator SMAPP
+1721-5220925
