On Tuesday afternoon December 14, 2010, the board of the Sint Maarten Seniors and Pensioners Association (SMSPA) met with Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour Mrs Maria Buncamper-Molanus. The meeting was held at the request of the SMSPA, to introduce the boardmembers of the legally established association and to request the support of the Minister to end the discrimination that senior citizens and pensioners in Sint Maarten are experiencing.The old age pensions for instance in Sint Maarten are still under poverty level. Poverty is a violation of the human right to a descent standard of living. When we look at the old age pensions on the French side of Sint Maarten and the old age pensions in the Netherlands (1000 Euro), the poverty pensions in Sint Maarten of 800 ANG are in violation of the non-discrimination principle, the equal rights that the Kingdom government has to guarantee citizens throughout the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The health care level and the health care packages in Sint Maarten are still not equal to the basic health care level and the health care package of the Netherlands. This is a violation of the right to the highest attainable standard of health care that the Kingdom government has to guarantee throughout the Kingdom, so also in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. SMSPA has commended the St. Maarten Government however, as a step in the right direction has been taken with respect to the plans to establish a basic health care package which is equal to that of the Netherlands as part of the National Health Insurance system.
Furthermore the sickness insurance premium that retirees of private and public sector in Sint Maarten have to pay to be insured with SVB and FZOG (10% of their monthly pension) is still five times higher than what non-retired workers insured with SVB or BZV (2%) have to pay from their monthly salary. This is also a violation of the non-discrimination principle among workers based upon age or upon their activity status.
The board of the SMSPA has all understanding that the government of country Sint Maarten only now is responsible to help the seniors to realize all their human rights, but made it clear that government of Sint Maarten has now become part of the Kingdom government with their representative the Minister Plenipotentiary in the Hague.
To realize all human rights of the seniors before 2012, is a commitment made by the Kingdom government delegation in Madrid in 2002 by signing the International Action Plan on Aging.
The board of the SMSPA recommended the government of Sint Maarten to demand from the Kingdom government all the necessary political, economical, social, cultural and financial support to achieve this objective before 2012 and to comply with the human rights guarantee that is the responsibility of the Kingdom government.
Referring to the International Action Plan on Aging (Madrid 2002)and the Regional Strategy to Implement the International Action Plan on Aging for Latin America and the Caribbean (Santiago de Chile 2003) the board of the SMSPA urged the Minister to formalize and implement a National Action Plan on Aging for Country Sint Maarten and to guarantee the involvement of the SMSPA in preparation, decision making and implementation of all policies which could affect seniors living in Sint Maarten. The board of the SMSPA will submit their proposals to be included in such a National Action Plan on Aging for country Sint Maarten and will come up with suggestions for a structured dialogue to guarantee the bottom up approach which governments have adopted in the aforementioned intergovernmental meetings.
The board of the SMSPA requested for a policy that government should make more use of the knowledge and the experience of the seniors and pensioners in the society. Pensioners for instance can still contribute to the development of society. Especially now that Sint Maarten has become a country, a lot of human resources to build up the country are needed.
The minister committed to a follow up meeting with the SMSPA in the beginning of next year to respond to the issues brought up by the SMSPA.
