Dutch and local Ombudsman join forces to help vulnerable citizens

PHILIPSBURG – National Ombudsman in the Netherlands Reinier van Zutphen and St. Maarten’s Ombudsman Dr. Nilda Arduin have joined forces to come to the rescue of citizens who need post-hurricane help and do not get satisfactory attention of the government.

At a joint press conference at the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in Cupecoy, Arduin and Van Zutphen explained how the office of the Ombudsman is able to help citizens in need in the face of the 2018 hurricane season that got underway on June 1.

“When governments are involved and they come across people who are depending on their help – how do these people find their way to the Ombudsman? We shouldn’t make that too difficult,’ Van Zutphen said. “We will take care of the procedural part and we will figure out how to help people in immediate need.”

Van Zutphen and Arduin noted that, almost ten months after Hurricane Irma, a lot has been achieved but there is also still a lot that needs to be done. Too many people still do not have a roof over their head.

“It is important for the government to speed things up. Help should not be held back for formal reasons, it should not be hindered by rules,” van Zutphen said.

The government also needs to keep an open mind about people who were already living in poverty and debt before the hurricane.

Ombudsman Arduin said there is a need for urgency where it concerns vulnerable people. “It is therefore important for us to extend our service and to act as a liaison officer. Sometimes the focus is on the paperwork and the target is lost. We want to emphasize – whatever is going on, it is about the people.”

Arduin said that the cooperation with the Dutch Ombudsman has benefited St. Maarteners. As an example she mentioned the St. Maarteners who fled to the Netherlands after Hurricane Irma, and then encountered trouble getting registered at a municipality. Van Zutphen stepped in to help solve a problem that originated in St. Maarten and ended up in the Netherlands.

Right now, the Ombudsman-help does not focus on its traditional role of investigator into shortcomings of the government towards its citizens. Such investigations take too long and with the peak of the new hurricane season rapidly approaching, there is no time for it.

“We are not waiting for individual complaints,” Van Zutphen said. “There is a sense of urgency and that has to be translated into action. The government needs to do everything possible to fix as many houses as possible.”

Arduin and Van Zutphen visited the neighboring islands of Saba and Statia together. Van Zutphen asked attention for an urgent issue on those smaller islands: poverty and health. “That needs more attention and it is not just a matter of spending money; it is much more than that.”

Photo caption: Ombudsman Dr. Nuilda Arduin with Dutch National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen. Photo Hilbert Haar.