Dutch Quarter:--- Several residents who are looking for assistance and proper representation are already flocking at the door of the appointed Ombudsman for St. Maarten Nilda Arduin Lynch.
Listen to the interview:
A number of taxi drivers whose permits were approved by the former executive council is stuck somewhere in the administrative system contacted SMN News claiming that the department of CIB are withholding their permits for no apparent reasons.
Some 16 persons whose permits were approved with mistakes are at the mercy of the council of ministers or the Ombudsman because the current administration is not taking the necessary steps to have the corrections made.
The independent workers told SMN News that when the department of CIB was processing their applications they made mistakes which now have to go back to the council for rectification. According to one driver, he applied for a taxi permit and when he received the permit, the department and government granted him a bus permit. The man who requested that his identity be withheld said they made one simple mistake with one word, yet they are refusing to
make the necessary corrections. The driver who is obviously angry said when he read the permit and realised that they granted him a bus permit and not a taxi permit based on his application, he refused to accept the permit unless the correction is made. He said he has since written and approached the Minister of transportation who told him he needed to make an appointment with his secretary. The driver said when he tried to comply with the Minister's order the secretary offered to resolve his problem. "When they called CIB the lady there told them that they do not have that file, the head of CIB –Sherwin Frederick has that file in his office and they don't know what he will do with it." The driver said he also learnt that the head of CIB is now trying to treat the file as new request which is also under review. He said the Minister of Traffic and Transportation told him his office already sent 10 permits to be delivered. "These are new permits that were signed off by the former executive council and not the permits with the mistakes. So it is clear that the office of CIB and the council of ministers is not working on the permits with the mistakes.
Another driver who recently picked up her permit said the CIB head was purposely withholding her permit and she only got it when the Minister of transportation Franklin Meyers intervened."I was in the Minister's office when he called the secretary general Miguel De Weever demanding an explanation and I heard when De Weever said the permits were by CIB, yet when I went back to see Frederick he wants to bullshit me. I had to tell him I was in the Minister's office and I heard the conversation and only then he processed my file and delivered my permit."
In the meantime, another applicant who is well known to the community said he was told by the former commissioner that his permit was signed off. "The five day executive council members also assured that my file was processed, yet when I go to CIB, the department head is looking at me with scorn. The lady at the front desk also told me she does not have the file and whenever the file reaches her she will call me."
SMN News tried to contact the head of CIB Sherwin Frederick for a comment on the allegations but he could not be reached. SMN News was told that the department head is working outside of his office and he was not reachable on Thursday. The office assistants promised to have the department head contact us but we are still waiting on his phone call.
In an invited comment the Minister of public transportation Franklin Meyers said that the council of ministers is not withholding anyone's permit. "All the permits that were granted legally by the former executive council and were signed off by the Lt. Governor will be given out.
The council of ministers did not take any decision to withhold any permit." Meyers said on Tuesday morning.
In an invited comment secretary general to Minister Meyers, Miguel de Weever said that while several permits were legally issued those persons will get their permits sometime soon. De Weever said some of the permits even though approved have mistakes and those mistakes cannot be corrected immediately since there is no more island secretary or Lt. Governor to sign off on these permits. De Weever further explained that there are number of permits that were approved by the former executive council, some of them were signed off by the Lt Governor and some were not. Those that was not signed by the Lt. Governor is now under review. It is not known if those permits will be honoured or if they are going to be withheld.
De Weever said right now there are number things that have to be put in place including having a logo for country St. Maarten. SMN News understands that government is basically at a standstill since there is no logo for country St. Maarten, thus urgent documents cannot be signed and delivered.
OMBUDSMAN Intervention
The Ombudsman of country St. Maarten Nilda Arduin Lynch in an interview with SMN News said at least one of the three persons who approached SMN News approached her with his plight. Lynch said while her job is to protect the people and the constitution of St. Maarten she has to be able to do the job correctly.
The ombudsman said that to date she has no office space, neither a staff and this might not be ready until another month or so. She said currently there is a Quarter Master on St. Maarten who is assisting the new country in setting up the Ombudsman, the council of advice and the chamber of audit but that is taking some time since they are starting all these institutions and structures from scratch. "I was informed that a space is now available and I will be inspecting the location on Friday. One must know that the office of the Ombudsman must be accessible to each and every person living on St. Maarten. I will be attending a conference in Curacao during the first week of November where I will gather information on how the office of the Ombudsman works. While I know the legal framework I still need to get some outside information which would work in the interest of St. Maarten instead of re-inventing the wheel."
Arduin Lynch said she will be conducting a number of interviews on various radio stations, television and other news entity to inform the people what they need to do and have for the office of the Ombudsman to work. "People need to bring proof of their allegation if we are to investigate. They also need to know that this is a legal entity and to investigate we need tools and proper administrative facilities since everything has to be documented." Working outside the legal realm will be counter-productive to the people.
Arduin Lynch said her office would need at least five persons; three must have legal background while the other two has to be civil servants with a high scale or experience. So far there are a number of applications that were submitted for the available post; however the Ombudsman said she prefers to have locals working in this office. This way they would know the people they are dealing with, and the culture of the people. Arduin Lynch confirmed that some of the applicants are from Holland.
Arduin Lynch said when the office of the Ombudsman makes an investigation, the minister in charge of that department will be notified and ordered to take the necessary actions. She said if the Minister for some reason decides not to follow the recommendations then parliament is informed. Furthermore, these reports are documented and are always available to the public so they could act if necessary.
Following is the interview with Nilda Arduin Lynch--- St Maarten's Ombudsman, we urge our readers to listen to this audio interview since the information here is very informative and it is in the interest of the people.
