MENTAL TORTURE OF FZOG - PENSIONERS
Instead of trying all legal means at the disposition of a creditor, caregivers in Curacao decided once more to go public to put psychological pressure on the sickness insurance fund FZOG and on politicians. Deliberately (or unconsciously) with their action they cause concern, insecurity and affect the tranquility of the retired civil servants pensioners and their families which are the FZOG cardholders.
You would have expected from caregivers that they do their utmost to prevent to affect the mental health (worrying) and even the physical health (cramps in the belly, raising blood pressure) of the civil servant pensioners.
Not withstanding the advertisements of the ABVO Council of Pensioners last year not to make war affecting health of the civil servant retirees, once more we are confronted with care givers that consciously choose for action forms that affect the pensioners and their health. These care givers do not care that their actions affect the health of the pensioners! As a matter of fact the more they affect the health of the pensioners the better for them, because that is the way for them to increase their income causing more visits to the doctor, more medication, etc.
PROMISES OF THE POLITICIANS
Last year the care givers in Curacao and Sint Maarten by refusing service to FZOG cardholders caused that many civil servants retirees received no treatment or no medication. Some were forced to pay cash to receive access to the necesary medical care and medication.
We have to reckognize that the publicity created by the care givers with their refusal of the cards resulted last year in attention even from the highest legislative body in our country the Antillean Parliament. The Minister of Finance and all parliamentarians in defense of the civil service retirees promised to come up with a structural solution for the FZOG fund. (integration of FZOG in SVB)
The Minister of Finance even went so far to show that nowhere in the FZOG ordinance is stipulated that the central government is responsable to pay for the deficits of the FZOG sickness insurance fund. Nevertheless for political reasons the central government to show that wellbeing was now possible because of debt relief that the Dutch started to pay off, the sentral government gave the FZOG fund a financial injection that could pay all outstanding debts of FZOG care givers untill may 2009.
RESTITUTION FOR RETIREES STILL BLOCKED
While the fund continued to owe the care givers after may 2009 not with standing all kinds of negotiations and agreements between care givers and FZOG, the government pensioners who have paid cash for their medical treatments and medication untill the day of today are also waiting for their refund ! We have examples of restitution cases waiting for more than 5 years.
While in Sint Maarten a lot of requests for medical referral, requests for glasses, etc are piling up at SVB Sint Maarten, which functions as the postal office for the FZOG fund, no structural improvement of the FZOG-SVB service to civil service pensioners has been experienced yet.
PENSIONERS CANNOT WAIT ANY LONGER
Some of our retired civil servants passed away because the Lord decided to terminate their suffering here on earth. How long civil servant retirees have to suffer? How many civil servant retirees have to die before a real improvement and a structural change of the medical care system and the sickness insurance for civil servant retirees and their fa,ilymembers comes into effect??
ABVO-COU\NCIL OF PENSIONERS ACTION : "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!"
In their reent meeting the ABVO Council of Pensioners (ABVO-KODIPA) decided to launch an action week from April 12-16, 2010 named: "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!" "AWOR SI TA BASTA!"
In Curacao representatives of ABVO-KODIPA in the Curacao Confederation of Pensioners and Older Persons (KOPAMKO) will adress the FZOG problems and determine a plan of action to take steps to stop the mental torture of civil service retirees with an FZOG card.
In Sint Maarten representatives of the ABVO Council of Pensioners have contacted the civil servants labour unions in Sint Maarten. In a meeting last year august 2009 of these unions with the Executive Coiuncil of Sint Maarten the unions received a promise from the Execcutive Council that by 10-10-10 all civil servants pensioners will receive the same health care package as the active civil servants and that effective that date the civil servants pensioners will pay the same sickness insurance premium as the active civil servants working for the island government.
All government pensioners that have issues pending with FZOG or SVB such as requests for restitution, requests for referral, requests for glasses, etc. are invited to contact members of ABVO Council of Pensioners either by calling or visiting the following locations : In Curacao : ABVO office at Kaya Thomas Henriquez 24 – Brievengat – tel: 7376097; In St Maarten : WIFOL office at Pond Fill # 89 – Philipsburg - tel: 556 3622
Furthermore all pensioners in Sint Maarten are invited to a general meeting to share all pending issues or concerns they have with FZOG or SVB. Representatives of labour unions WICSU/PSU, WITU, ABVO-SXM, UFA and WIFOL will be present to discuss what it is that we can do to address the concerns of the pensioners on Sint Maarten. The general meeting will be held this week Thursday April 15th from 4 to 6 o'clock pm at the WIFOL at Pondfill.
On behalf of the board of the ABVO Council of Pensioners:
Raymond Jessurun - 1* vice-president ABVO-KODIPA – +5999 - 561 5035
Helen Hoijer - 2* sekretary ABVO-KODIPA
