PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Cornelius de Weever sent a strong warning to all politicians who have been calling and visiting civil servants at the department of Social Affairs to get favors for their supporters. Minister de Weever refused to name the politicians that he said are calling for social assistance for people who supports their party.
Minister de Weever said the department of Social Affairs has a policy which they have to work with and these politicians were not trying to help people over the past three years but suddenly its election time and they calling and visiting the department to get help in order to get votes. "I want to make clear that the department of Social Affairs works every day providing services to the people of St. Maarten. They are not there only election time, therefore I am warning politicians to refrain from harassing the civil servants at the department of Social Affairs."
Minister de Weever said he as a Minister cannot call the Ministry of VROMI and demand land for his supporters neither would he call the Ministry of TEATT to demand a bus, taxi or business license for his people. Therefore these politicians and their wives should refrain from doing what they are busy doing in order to get a vote.
When he was asked to identify the politicians or political party or parties that are engaging in such actions Minister de Weever said he preferred not to do so for now because he needs to ensure that there are no legal ramifications.
Power Surge Affects Labor and Social Affairs
Minister de Weever also announced that due to a power surge during the weekend the servers at the department of Social Affairs and Labor crashed. Minister de Weever said that the department of Labor and Social Affairs are affected by this however, the ICT department workers are working on getting the server up and running. He said that this should be completed by next week.
The Minister further explained that both departments remain open for certain hours of the day (8am to 12 noon) to provide as much service as they could. Some of the services he said will be done manually. The persons that are mostly affected by the power surge are employers who are seeking to submit applications for labor permits.
