Says Surinamese Contractors should be deported.
PHILIPSBURG:--- President of the St. Maarten Communication Union (SMCU) Ludson Evers has issued a strong call on government to follow the rule of law on St. Maarten. Evers said that after the press conference he held with members of the media last week, management immediately instructed the six Surinamese contractors to stay away from work. He said the inspectorate of labor also visited TELEM and they informed management that these workers cannot work for TELEM unless their working and residency documents are in order. However, the union wants to know why the inspectorate did not issue a fine to TELEM because he knows that when any company hires illegal workers that company is given a fine of up to Naf.10.000.00 per person. Evers said he was expecting the immigration department to pay a visit to TELEM and to also pick up the six contractors and deport them but that did not happen. Evers claims that TELEM has submitted a request for working documents for these Surinamese to work on a project that they are paying NAF.250.000.00 to do while there are enough local contractors and unemployed people on St. Maarten that can do the work. Evers said based on the information he received TELEM is paying the Surinamese contractors $25.00 to $35.00 per hour per person. He said management of TELEM claim that these contractors are cheaper than the other ones they contacted but according to him there is no contractor on the island that is paid that kind of monies. He alluded that there is no respect for the agreement TELEM has with the workers that became redundant when the company restructured. He further stated that management of TELEM is not even respecting the laws of the country and that is the union's main reason for calling for the resignation of the supervisory board.
Evers further explained that when companies submit requests for working documents for foreign employees those persons have to remain off island until their permit is granted. He said the six Surinamese are not working but they are still on the island as their working documents are being processed. Evers said if the Ministers both Labor and Justice should sign these work and residency permits then he will file a complaint with the Ombudsman and people higher up because St. Maarten already has integrity issues. Evers also confirmed that the union requested a meeting with the Prime Minister who is the shareholder representative of TELEM and to date they did not get a response from the Prime Minister regarding their request for a meeting.
Evers further stated that the project that TELEM gave to the people management of TELEM hand-picked without putting it on a bid can be done by locals who already did the hardest part of the work already. He disputed the claim that the project is a pilot project and that TELEM lacks manpower. Evers said that management of TELEM refused to hire people. "There are a number of vacancies in the customer service department and management refuse to hire people. There is also two positions that are vacant in the technical department and again TELEM refused to hire people to fill these positions. They have been hiring foreign contractors and refused to even put a local person alongside these foreign contractors for training. They are hiring these foreign contractors that would pack their bags and leave when they fail instead of hiring local people whom they could train to do the work they need to get done. I am man that supports upgrading the skills of locals because these locals will remain on the island with their skills."
Evers said the main fiber optic cabling was conducted by local contractors and he sees no reason why the "super geniuses" from Suriname were brought in.
Asked by SMN News if he Evers has a company of his own Evers first denied that he has a company since he is an employee of TELEM but later admitted that he does have a company and does work on the side but he does not work on contracts for TELEM.
