From left are: Secretary General at the Ombudsman Randolf Duggins, Ombudsman Gwendolien Mossel and Legal Advisor at the Ombudsman Aishira Cicilia.
PHILIPSBURG–Ombudsman Gwendolien Mossel has asked Parliament to “seriously address” the government’s ignoring of investigations conducted by the Bureau, which Mossel said is a violation of the National Ordinance of the Ombudsman.
The call was made during a meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament on Wednesday, at which the Ombudsman and her team presented their year report for 2018.
MPs were told that there are many criticisms of government on the whole coming from the public. Many visits to the Ombudsman Bureau stem from frustration of persons who feel neglected, disrespected or not taken seriously by civil servants. They visit the Bureau as a last resort because they believe that someone at this office will listen, care and take their concern(s) seriously.
“Behind every complaint is a person or family who has requested a service from government and has been waiting for months or sometimes even a year on a response from government. Most of them have not even received an acknowledgement of receipt, or an update on their request. The public prefers a motivated “no” above uncertainty. Government is obligated to cooperate and provide the information and documentation that is deemed necessary; not doing so constitutes a violation of the law. Citizens are entitled to adequate responses to inquiries and applications,” MPs were told.
Mossel said the Ministry of Justice continues to evoke the most concern. Investigations regarding the Ministry are not progressing due to lack of response. This remains the case until today.
Numerous letters of concern outlining the main bottlenecks within the Ministry, and research papers regarding procedures established by law but not properly followed, have been issued in the past. To date no response has been received to these letters of concern.
The main concerns regarding this ministry include no clarity and/or compliance with the policy for housing/rent allowance for police officers; lack of information on Human Resource (HR) policies, procedures and the legal basis; placement of staff, remunerations, transfers and compensation; clarity on the organisational structure and accountability of the Court of Guardianship (CoG) and other independent agencies such as SJIB (“Stichting Justitiële Inrichting Bovenwinden”); lack of transparency regarding enforcement of the laws and regulations governing the functioning of the CoG (such as child support); human rights aspects at the prison; victim support (in Dutch: “slachtofferhulp”) and following through with verdicts of the court.
During the meeting, the Ombudsman also expressed concern with the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning, the Environment and Infrastructure VROMI. “In a previous meeting with the Secretary General of the Ministry of VROMI it was said that the structural deficiencies within several departments pertaining to staffing and budgetary constraints were the main reasons for the lack of response to requests of the public and the investigations of the Ombudsman. These challenges may in no way exempt any Ministry from its duty to respond and service the public,” Mossel told MPs.
Mossel said the Ombudsman entered 2018 with the motto “Shifting Gears”, which signified moving forward and accelerating its “game” with focus on the recovery and rebuilding of St. Maarten in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017. A key element of the shifting gears theme had been addressing the continuation of various aspects of the after-effects of the hurricanes through systemic or own motion investigations. As a result, three systemic investigations were concluded in 2018 and recommendations issued to government.
The investigations were: Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRR), Dismissal Advisory Committee (DAC) and Rent Tribunal (RT). A fourth systemic investigation regarding the Procurement Management Process at Princess Juliana International Airport Operating Company PJIAE was initiated at the level of the functionally responsible government body – the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) – during the fourth quarter of 2018.
The final report regarding the investigation of the state of preparedness of the country in regard to the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan was already extensively covered in the Ombudsman’s 2017 report and was not discussed further on Wednesday. Mossel said a response to the recommendations issued from the former Prime Minister had been received and most of the recommendations are a work in progress.
The final reports regarding the Dismissal Advisory Committee, Rent Tribunal and PJIAE formed part of the Ombudsman’s presentation to Parliament.
She said also that in light of the 2018 theme of focusing on the rebuilding and recovery of St. Maarten, the Ombudsman engaged in a joint mission with the National Ombudsman of the Netherlands in June of last year. Visits to the President of Parliament, the Prime Minister of St. Maarten, the Dutch representative stationed on St. Maarten, and talks with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) revealed that the plight of “ordinary citizens” got lost in the rather complicated web of procedures established for St. Maarten to access the recovery funds.
As such a joint letter was sent to the Prime Ministers of the Netherlands and St. Maarten, expressing concerns regarding the slow pace of the reconstruction of St. Maarten and urging both heads of government to speed up the recovery process. These concerns were the genesis of the Ombudsman’s community outreach project that was initiated in 2019. The report resulting from that project entitled “Home Repair. A revelation of a social crisis,” was presented to Chairperson of Parliament William Marlin at the end of Wednesday’s meeting.
The Bureau of the Ombudsman had also embarked on a project targeting academic high schools in St. Maarten. The project entitled “The Best School Ombudsman” involved high school students in the pre-exam and exam classes at Milton Peters College – HAVO/VWO; St. Dominic High School; Methodist Agogic Center-Comprehensive Secondary Education (MAC-CSE) and St. Maarten Academy (Academic) in the role of the Ombudsman. The project concluded in the form of an information evening at the University of St. Martin (USM), after which St. Maarten Academy emerged the overall winner.
Mossel wrapped up her presentation saying that the Ombudsman “is a critical friend – an important ally, if recognised and valued as such.”
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/91976-ombudsman-urges-mps-to-address-govt-s-ignoring-of-investigations
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