~ Questions bottleneck in payment ~
PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Businessman Omar Ottley on Thursday called on government to pay contractors before Christmas to show appreciation for men and women who have done what they had been contracted to do. Ottley said while he commend the efforts of the Minister of VROMI for trying to get things done, the unfortunate reality is many contractors are being used for political gain and not rewarded payment to in time for their works carried out.
“For many years local contractors have been used as political pawns. When election is occurring they are given many contracts for the sake of working and hiring other eligible voters. But as Christmas time approaches many of the same contractors are left without payment for the season. I am for local contractors being awarded various projects, but the objective should be that the local company can be paid before governments workers go on Christmas break,” Ottley said.
He continued: “I have stated in previous interviews that this election is indeed a blessing because everything that was supposed to be a priority is actually being done. But these functions cannot be done without human assistance.”
He questioned government and the VROMI department in particular, why contractors have to wait so long for payment after they executed the work they were contracted to do by government.
“We are on the verge of Christmas 2019 and many contractors including local companies are feeling the strain because payment will not be delivered before the New Years. So I ask what is the bottle neck in the payment process and how can we assure a more efficient and reasonable time frame of payment for our contractors.
Christmas is a time that we all are aware of and no person whether employer or employee, should go through the season without payment,” Ottley concluded
