500 Jobs and 4900 young people may be impacted
A great concern to the UP parliamentary faction is if provisions have been taken by the Government to secure the employment of close to 500 persons and the programs that serve 4900 people in our community from the Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs).
Secondly, what is the NGOs sector doing with respect to their current programs and employment of personnel since funding has apparently dried up from Dutch financial sources at the end of 2012?
The umbrella St. Martin United Non-Governmental Organization Federation SUNFed last November sounded the alarm that some 240 full-time employees and 225 part-timers workers for various NGOs were at stake and that 4900 young people and others in our community – single parent homes headed mostly by women; assistance for parents with their children’s needs, safety and security for youngsters and homework tutorship – would be in jeopardy if funding was not forthcoming.
The St. Maarten Development Fund is to be allocated funds from the 2013 country budget and distribute these funds to the NGO community. However, it’s now the beginning of February and the 2013 country budget still has not been sent to parliament and we have been hearing this story since last year.
Is there a transition phase in place for the NGOs due to the 2013 budget not being in place? The Minister of Finance is the responsible body and should provide transparency to the NGO community and the people of the country to where we stand on this very important issue that impacts thousands of our people.
Sylvia Meyers
United People’s (UP) Party Interim Faction Leader
Member of Parliament