PHILIPSBURG:--- Owning a home is said to be a keystone of wealth as it offers both financial affluence and emotional security, it is one of the greatest achievements one can have as it shows security and stability in one's personal life. However, over the years, the process of owning a home on St. Maarten; for young people have become an expensive and difficult process, one which many have tried several times and failed at it.
"As a party with our country's interest at heart; we cannot overlook the impact this is having on our society, wherein people have no choice but to remain tenants because of the skyrocketing costs and the mortgage qualification process a prospective home owner has to go through which, more times than not, end in rejected applications in our banking system," the Board of the United St. Maarten Party (USP) said.
One additional problem is the fact that the policies and rules that govern the construction/labour industry are not been enforced so most of the construction workers are foreign nationals; with a substantial being amount undocumented and therefore not contributing directly to Government coffers. This non-contribution is an example of revenue leakage for Government.
"We as leaders need to find those loop holes, those revenue leakage and plug them," the USp said. "If not it creates a ripple effect and leaves a strain on the average person. In addition to immigration, the lack of family planning puts a pressure on our housing market as in most cases; not only in St. Maarten, the less privileged have the most children and with a rapidly growing population in which these parents earn less than Naf 2,500 per month and are in most cases single parents, living conditions will continue to disintegrate and poverty will continue to be an issue."
Significant investments have been made in St. Maarten over the last 20 years i.e. the harbour (pier 1 & 2), Front Street & Back Street upgrade, Middle Region road, Soualiga Boulevard, Princess Juliana Intl Airport, and the Causeway.
However, the past governments have failed to make similar investments in human capital to maintain these infrastructural investments. Our civil, structural, and construction engineers are for the majority still being imported and despite us having a few local qualified infrastructure companies, a majority of the work is being given to larger companies.
"We, the USP believe there are still ways to make things right. If we Invest more in our communities, we will see an increase in property value which will, make them more marketable. In addition, the Vocational Education program shows that there is a need for more skilled labourers in the work force like masons, plumbers, carpenters, etc. So if we increase the number of qualified labourers we have locally, we can find a way to strategically ensure that fair opportunity is provided, while at the same time ensuring that the quality is not compromised.
The USP is not about finding fault; our mandate it to address the social issues that that continue to pose a problem for us as a people. Therefore, we believe Government should find ways to cultivate local skills and trade, by giving incentives for the development of local building material production. This way the funds received in road tax will be sufficient as oppose to having to spend millions paying private third parties to build and maintain our roads.
USP Press Release
