PHILIPSBURG--“Solution-oriented” to help the country recover and rebuild is how National Alliance (NA) leader Silveria Jacobs described her party’s manifesto for the February 26 snap election. The document was created following “a listening tour” to gather residents’ concerns.
The manifesto, according to a party press statement, is “a preliminary presentation of solutions” to residents’ concerns that will be “further tweaked” should the party be returned to office following Monday’s poll.
The construction of a new hospital for the country, improved health care services, finalisation of a new tariff structure for the hospital, enticing local medical professionals back home from abroad, the completion of the policy to regulate medical tourism and developing one for family planning are among NA’s priorities.
The manifesto outlined that the party will seek to review and expand public housing, the housing vision, purchase land for the housing programme, construct community centres, allocate land for community gardens, and build outdoor gyms and playgrounds.
Finding a long-term solution for the dump, the execution of a comprehensive road network plan, drafting a master plan for sewage management and proper management of cemeteries are among many other things are included in the party’s plans.
NA intends to work on strengthening the Police Force, prison, Immigration and Customs Departments, increasing border controls, acquiring container scanners and reviewing the Caribbean Visa Policy.
In the area of education, NA said it wants to improve the schools, add entrepreneurship and agriculture to the curricula, provide educational materials suited to the needs of primary and secondary schoolchildren, improve accessibility to special needs education and give incentives to the private sector to invest in education.
The construction of a national theatre of the creative and performing arts, repair and upgrade of existing cultural and artistic facilities, boosting the usage of Festival Village, finalisation of the cultural policy and increasing the promotion of the country’s culture are also some of the party’s priorities.
NA said it plans to establish a council and recreational centres for the elderly, increase pension benefits and carry out a study to determine a living wage, among other actions.
The implementation of labour legislation and policy, reviewing the minimum wage, finalising legislation for the youth employment fund and enacting legislation for protection and sustainability of small businesses are also in the manifesto, as well as adjusting education and job training programmes to meet labour needs.
The party said it will look into tax incentives for businesses willing to hire and train the persons registered as unemployed and into the stimulation of agricultural initiatives.
“Job creation is one of our biggest focuses. Getting our citizens back to work and improving the economy is something that we are working diligently towards,” the manifesto said.
The NA manifesto is available on
Facebook.com/National Alliance St. Maarten.
