~ Decry threats of de-registration ~
PHILIPSBURG--Residents of Belvedere and the Belvedere Homeowners and Tenants Association (BHOTA) want answers from the Civil Registry Department and the St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF) as to the legalities of the threat to have residents written out of the system if certain information is not provided. They also called on Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams to clarify what is going on with "these activities from the Civil Registry."
Residents of the houses managed by SMHDF have received unsigned letters from the Civil Registry, requesting that they provide proof of whose authorized permission they have to register at their addresses. The letter was only stamped by the Civil Registry.
In its letter, Civil Registry indicated to residents, on a case by case basis, that information from the SMHDF shows that "John Doe" is the sole leaseholder of a specific apartment and that based on the Registry's basic administration, certain other individuals are registered at the address. Thus, Civil Registry wants the lease holder to provide proof that he or she has allowed other individuals to register at the address.
In other words, if "John Doe" is registered at "Apartment A," John Doe has to fill in a form indicating all persons living in the apartment, even if they are his spouse and/or children. Should a person not react to the letter of the Civil Registry, they run the risk of being de-registered as of April 2.
Residents argue that the Civil Registry has nothing to do with who gave permission for a person to reside in a certain place. "The only thing Civil Registry should be concerned about is that people are registered. Anything else is none of their business. Also, Civil Registry ensured that the persons living at a particular place received their voting cards and other documents. So what are they trying to say? That they gave out voting cards illegally?" one resident said. Another added: "I'm curious to see if they will write out 500 registered voters."
BHOTA questions what right the SMHDF has to pass on information to third parties and based on what regulations the SMHDF and Civil Registry are acting. Moreover, they continued, the threat to de-register is frivolous, since neither the Civil Registry nor the SMHDF can verify if everyone has received the letters. "I could have been away for two months or the wind could have blown the letter away. How do you know that everyone received the letter?"
The residents also questioned why letters were sent only to tenants in Belvedere, for example, and not homeowners in Belvedere "and for that matter, why not homeowners in Guana Bay if the Civil Registry is truly concerned and applying this across the board?"
They said they know the answer. "We know that the SMHDF is busy trying to force people from their apartments. If I moved in with myself, my wife and one child, and now I have three children, they want me to get out. Or Housing wants to compare salaries and say, 'Hey, you don't belong in here,' but Housing don't know our stories or how we struggle. That's the reason for all of this and the Civil Registry is complicit in this."
In an invited comment, Director of the St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation Henry Lynch gave some credence to the claims of the residents when he stated that the SMHDF "has the authority to do compliance tests to ensure that tenants still qualify for units they live in, or if they need to move to a bigger, smaller or cheaper unit, or if they qualify for more or less subsidy."
When asked if this means what it suggests, the eventual re-location of tenants, Lynch did not offer a definitive comment.
He said that to his knowledge, no one made any inquiries with SMHDF about the exercise (proving to Civil Registry). "Had the inquiries been made, information would have been given. I guess that it's better for residents to go to the newspaper for clarity on simple matters in order to create a negative perception of SMHDF. BHOTA has a representative on the Supervisory Board of SMHDF and no inquiries were made via this avenue either."
BHOTA said it would ask its representative to provide clarity.
Lynch continued: "We can publish the findings of the exercise in a week or two that would reveal, among other things, that SMHDF is still renting to deceased persons, and in some cases over ten persons are registered for a two-bedroom apartment. The legality, I believe, was already addressed by the Head of the Civil Registry. Moreover, with the development of new units, it is important for SMHDF to know what the need is for bedrooms and prices."
Lynch did not say on what specific legal basis he engaged Civil Registry to conduct the exercise.
Maurice Lake of the Supervisory Board of the SMHDF said the board is unclear about the exercise.
Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams, who addressed the issue based on a question from the media on Wednesday, said her answer was given to a "generalized question" and thus her answer "was also conditioned that I did not have any specifics."
She added that the matter at the SMHDF only came to her knowledge, based on inquiries from The Daily Herald.
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