In another closed door meeting of the Permanent Committee presentations were made to members of Parliament by the SMMC director, SZV interim CEO as well as by government as to where they are now.
Strangely enough, members of the NA faction in Parliament had requested a Central Committee meeting with these same entities back in December which had been convened after the budget meetings and for which a postponement was requested by the entities mentioned above so they could meet in a workshop and come with an action plan moving forward to address these issues.
Evidently, while it was commendable that all involved see the importance of the issues at hand and have mentioned their willingness to work together, it is clear that the meeting was premature as the Conference/workshop is planned for March 19th and how the entities will actually work together has not been ironed out.
It is the belief of the NA faction that the outcome of said conference would have formed a better basis for the requested meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament which should in fact be open and give the general public a clear picture as to the state of affairs of our medical institutions as well as to hear the commitment expressed by all towards finding a viable solution to the challenges in health care that St. Maarten is currently facing.
In the end, it boils down to commitment by the government to save this institution from ruin, preserve the livelihood of SMMC’s employees, as well as to facilitate the finances for the necessary expansion, upgrades to the infrastructre as well as the adjustment in tariffs to meet the needs of the hospital and the people of St. Maarten.
We look forward to the presentation by SMMC, SZV, Ministers of VSA and Finance after the conference is held as do the people of St. Maarten.
The NA faction also strongly believes that transparency is being threatened with the constant need to discuss these challenges in private.
The Beach policy meeting planned for Tuesday is another such case where the need for privacy has not been made clear and does not have our support.
MP Silveria Jacobs – Deputy Leader NA
