PHILIPSBURG:--- Cor Merx, legal representative of the St. Maarten School Bus Owners Association (hereafter: Association).
It has been several months since the Association has been in contact with the Minister of Education regarding the contract for the coming year(s).
The minister wants to have a lot of changes done as the association agrees with but the Minister is not willing to pay the price a school bus driver deserves to deliver and pick up our children from school in a safe way.
Recently the minister informed the association that they have to sign or leave and he will bring the contract in a “bidding”. The association was astonished and requested a meeting with the minister.
To make a long story short: the minister sticks with his point of view.
For that reason, the association will hold a meeting with all the school bus drivers on Pondfill Road across from Blue Point at 12:00 p.m. today. In this meeting, the members of the association will consider a “slow-motion” in delivering and picking up children from school. They do not want to harass the parents for something the minister has to take care of. That means that – maybe after this meeting school busses will not be in time for as long as the minister is refusing to change his point of view.
It is not excluded that the next stage will be a total strike…… the members do not want that but will have no other choice.
