PHILIPSBURG:--- The objective of the Soualiga Employers Association is to operate a professional employer’s umbrella organization or in short to function as a representative organization of the business community of Sint Maarten.
On April 16, 2021, the board of the Soualiga Employers Association (SEA) shared its concerns about the ongoing dormant status of the Social-Economic Council, with the Prime Minister, the Honorable Mrs. Silveria Jacobs. The SEA was instrumental in the mediation between a representation of a wide section of the local economy to nominate candidates to fill the seats that are allocated for employers in the Social-Economic Council but were informed that the appointment of one of the three members and deputy members is still not finalized.
The SEA continues that our country is still struggling with the aftermath of the hurricanes Irma and Maria and on top of that hit hard by the social-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘Our business community is faced with a decrease in revenues, downsizing, and an unhealthy investment climate. Our members suffer from increasingly unfair competition from undocumented companies that are shamelessly active in our economy’, the board explains.
The SEA states that a Social-Economic Council is of imminent importance to voice the challenges of the employers to the Government and to be part of a comprehensive approach to the re-building and reform of the local economy and the social structure of our local community. ‘Fundamental issues like the implementation of an effective ‘Caribisch Orgaan voor Hervorming en Ontwikkeling’ (COHO), reform of our tax system, the dollarization of our economy, stimulation of (young) entrepreneurship as part of the education system, and the diversification of the one-pillar economy should have our vast interest to prepare Sint Maarten for our future generations, the board adds.
The SEA board believes, that a well-functioning Social-Economic Council is an important sounding board for Government in the development and execution of policy to improve the business climate and the balanced welfare of the whole population. ‘The absence of more than a year of a Social-Economic Council, the most important advisory body of Government, hurts our democratic system and needs to be ended. The Soualiga Employers Association is ready to play its role’, the board concludes.
