In 2018, a new board was inducted by the Netherlands Red Cross and is being headed by the Interim President Ms. Nadia Chirlias. Red Cross St. Maarten has lost over 70% of their active volunteers due to the departure of former Branch Manager Nadjeska Gumbs. Likewise there have been 2 branch managers, 1 interim branch manager, 3 resignations and 1 managerial staff contract discontinued during an unfinished program. 2 board members have also resigned this year. The Interim Branch manager is working 20 hours per week with no staff.
The Netherlands Red Cross is constantly being informed about the mismanagement and is aware of the undermining that is taking place with the volunteers via emails from the volunteers.
Various promises have been made to the volunteers whether it is financial or non-financial. In fact during a General Assembly, the interim president stated that volunteers will receive a reward this year from the Netherlands, however cannot disclose said reward without proper documentation. In another Assembly, when asked about the reward, the interim president said the statement was never said.
During the last General Assembly in February 2021, volunteers voted to re-assess the work that has been supposedly finished due to poor results at the Belvedere Senior Home. Furthermore, an explanation was requested to elaborate on the tender/bidding process of said project. How much did the building cost, what repairs were done, was there a public bid, if not why? All things considered, no explanation has been made or assessments imparted. As the home dwellers made it clear that the repairs were mostly cosmetic such as painting and not focusing on improving their indoor living space.
Nadia Chirlias interim president and Reanda Brandy treasurer have never made it clear on the following questions to us volunteers.
The Red Cross is known for accepting and distributing second-hand items for the most vulnerable, but the coordination of this action is degrading. Garments are just simply sorted and given out. As indicated by the Red Cross , items of clothing should be arranged, washed, and disseminated. This type of stuff started happening in 2021.
On the other hand, Red Cross St. Maarten is not prepared for this year’s hurricane season. There is no disaster preparedness or response plan, or proper First-Aid trained and documented volunteers.
Not publicly answering these questions is to fail at providing the public and us the volunteers with accountability and transparency. I would like clear answers to the questions with no fallacies by June 30th, 2021. Failing to do so will prove the fact that the board of Sint Maarten Red Cross and The Netherlands Red Cross has no sense of Accountability and Transparency.
1. What are the core social projects and hurricane/disaster plans for us as volunteers to take part in?
2. When will the operational development project start, as this project focus is to develop the Sint Maarten Red Cross in the area of First Aid, Disaster Preparedness and Response amongst other essential facets of the Sint Maarten Red Cross?
3. When will Sint Maarten Red Cross carry out an external independent Audit of its’ financials, programs, procedures and protocols as only then improvements can be made?
4. When will the board of Sint Maarten accept the request of the volunteers to commence the General Assembly?
Sint Maarten Red Cross Statues Points
1. First of all there is no Board structure. There are only 3 persons that comprise an interim Board. The Board must comprise of 5 natural persons(Article 9: 1)
Board members are appointed by the General Assembly (Article 9:2)
2. No attempt has been made to fill the vacancies of the Board as (Article 11:5).
And the General Assembly meeting must designate the persons for the temporary Board.
3. Members registered can request a meeting of a General Assembly which the temporary Board must comply with (Article 16:2)
Ms. Chirlias was never voted in as president by any assembly and remains as an interim President in order for one to claim this position it must be done in accordance with the statutes.
4. Amendments to the Statutes can only be done in consultation with the General Assembly (Article 23)
5. Members annual subscription is determined by the General Assembly of members on the proposal of the board (Article 8:2).
6. According to the Volunteers Agreement you become a member of the RC when you sign the Volunteers Agreement.
So, you can't choose which one you want to be because you are both.
7.If a volunteer is exempted from voting during a General Assembly he/she will be able to vote as a member of the RC.
The Volunteer Agreement states clearly in Art. 1.d. that the Volunteer also becomes a member of the Red Cross Sint Maarten as from the date of this Agreement!
Art.13 .d . The agreement also ends if the Volunteer is no longer a member of the Red Cross. This is the result of the Volunteer cancelling his/her membership or if the Red Cross terminates it.
Carla Jonkers and Marion van der Reijden, what are you waiting for? Are you waiting for the Sint Maarten Red Cross to be completely nonfunctional? We the volunteers are one of the most important lifelines of the movement.
This is what the Red Cross say that they stand for: 7 Fundamental Principles,
Humanity, Impartiality, Neutrality, Independence, Voluntary Service, Unity and Universality.
