Fellow Citizens,
We are at the beginning of a new year that I believe has lots in store for us, a year that the OSPP will continue to be with you and that together we can make St. Maarten shine again. We can't and should not dwell on the past but make every effort to make St. Maarten a better place to live than the preceding years. We can't continue to develop this young nation as it has been going over the last three years. St. Maarten needs a change of direction and we need it now.
We must praise the almighty and seek his guidance in everything that we do and we are planning to do. We have an obligation to continue to honour our brothers and sisters, an obligation to love one another, to respect one another and to work together to make St. Maarten and the outer world a better place for all mankind.
The OSPP together with your support will take action that would enable our people to live comfortable and not from pay check to pay check. The high cost of living is slowly but surely eating up the basic fabric of our society by making the majority of our people poorer and poorer by the day. Much has been said about the high cost of living on St. Maarten but unfortunately the power that's being has not lifted a finger over many years to improve it and you should not expect anything different from them over the next four years no matter what they tell you during this election year. Our people are hurting and our present elected officials don't seem to care. A change must come and it must come sooner than later. St. Maarten is in need of a social agenda to better serve our many communities that are falling apart day by day.
We don't need to hear from the same elected representatives that are sitting in the cockpit of opportunities for the last three years and more what they will do. It is too late now, they had their chance and they have not delivered the goods to the people. They have all received an insufficient grade, an "F" with no exception. They have brought shame to this young nation with many of their actions. The OSPP together with you will restore honor to the office of parliament and to the council of ministers.
Under an OSPP watch we will strengthen our existing economic pillar, namely tourism and set up programs to encourage the setting up of small businesses and agriculture. Without any further delay we will tackle the cost of living by lowering the high GEBE bills, the astronomical high food prices, the unemployment in particular amongst the young people, rent that is bursting out it seams and we will move our minimum wage to a living wage.
We will introduce for the first time a mandatory private pension plan that will allow those who have contributed in building this nation to a decent income after reaching the pensionable age. An unemployment insurance; that will compensate those who lost their jobs for no fault of their own must be part of the 2014 St. Maarten agenda. This insurance will also be tied into to those unemployed persons having to enroll in some type of training program. The services of the National Institute For Professional Advancement (NIPA) will be used to train those unemployed persons to enter the job market again.
We support the fact that our people living abroad especially our students should be able to vote in our elections and that all elected and appointed officials should make their personal financial reports available to the election commission once this is established.
We want to stress once again that the OSPP believes very strongly that the salaries of our ministers and members of parliament are too high and they must be lowered based on performance.
The task ahead for St. Maarten to grow and for all to enjoy is a gigantic step, but Team OSPP is up to the challenge because together we will make St. Maarten Shine again.
On behalf of the OSPP family we want to wish you a very prosperous 2014 and remember a change must come in 2014. Let's live the St. Maarten dream.
Lenny F. Priest
Interim Leader
One St. Maarten People Party (OSPP)