SXMElections.com

MARIGOT--Neighbours and concerned citizens have raised the alarm over what they believe is a failure of social services to address adequately the situation of a family living in deplorable conditions at 43 Rue de Pic Paradis.

The primary concern is over the health of the senior member of the household, Placido Vrolijk (83), born in Aruba on September 25, 1932. He is currently bedridden and in poor health, and the family is trying to have him moved into a senior citizens home on either the French or Dutch side of the island.

"I've seen how his health is deteriorating on a daily basis," worries neighbour Alan Conner. "We've knocked on many doors already, but to no avail. The problem is he does not have health insurance or social security.

"Social workers said to try the Dutch side because he has Dutch nationality, but it seems they cannot admit him to the home over there because he doesn't have health insurance. He needs food and medical attention. We were promised a social worker would come from the Collectivité to assess the situation but nobody came."

Conner said Vrolijk's pension from the Dutch side almost had been cut off because the department did not know whether he was dead or alive. Fortunately, that was averted just in time after Conner obtained proof from a doctor that he was alive, but the family had been unaware the pension payment was about to be cut.

Concerned citizen Victor Paines, who has known Vrolijk for many years, said it did not matter to him which government or health authority, French- or Dutch-side, ultimately took responsibility, but something needed to be done quickly.

"It may be that social services will need to temporarily work together to get this situation resolved to get him into a home on the French side or Dutch side," Paines suggested. "Not only is this gentleman suffering from poor health, but the house itself is in an appalling state of deterioration."

That was very evident from a look at the front rooms of the house. Plaster is peeling off the ceilings and walls are down to the rebar, a rusty cooker and fridge sit on a tile floor in the kitchen, dilapidated furniture and naked light bulbs adorn the rooms, walls are unpainted, some with graffiti and even vines growing through the sliding doors on the porch.

The family consists of three adults: Vrolijk, his wife who has French nationality and an adopted daughter from Colombia, plus her six children ages five to 16 who go to school on the French side. Apparently only one child of the six has a passport because the father was French. Only a birth certificate is required to attend school on the French side.

"We have also learnt recently that one of the children is being subjected to sexual abuse from outside sources," Paines disclosed. "We want social services to take responsibility and get this matter sorted out. This is an insult and something that shouldn't exist in this day and age in St. Martin. It's absurd. It's good the children go to school, but go to the next step. What if the children need to travel with the school? We are providing education, but it's crazy that these children can't have citizenship and rights like everyone else."

Paines said he believed some work already had been done by social services on behalf of the wife and adopted daughter situations.

Special needs educator Diane Parrotte, who works at the school in Grand Case attended by one of the children, has been helping the family in cooperation with the Collectivité's social services since 2010. However, she says the family largely have themselves to blame for the situation they are in today despite the work she has put in, because they no longer want her help.

"I suspected from the child Mario that all was not well at home and I told him I wanted to meet his mother," said Parrotte. "When I saw the condition of the house from that day on I started working with the wife and adopted daughter Isabelle to get things sorted out for them. But to me there is carelessness on their part, because I told them what documents they needed to get. It was because of me that the wife got a 'carte vitale' and I helped her get a pension.

"The names of the daughter's children were all messed up, but I got them back in order with social services. I worked with the daughter to get her social coverage and a 'titre de sejour' [three-month residence permit – Ed.]. That involved contacting the embassy on the Dutch side to get her birth certificate from Colombia and then translating it.

"As for the house, no human being could live like that and I took the daughter and six children to live with me for a time because my son was away. But once she got the 'titre de sejour' she felt she didn't need me anymore. I was still working to get her 'carte de sejour' so she could get nationality because she had been here since she was a child. Maybe she felt she could handle it on her own without me. But I know she can't because she's messed everything up. She needs guidance."

According to Parrotte, neighbours were willing to fix up the house but the wife did not want it fixed up because of fears "someone else could benefit from it."

"How they are living is the way they choose to live," she said. "I showed them what to do and I tried my best. How they are living seems normal to them. The wife gets the pension, but she doesn't spend it on the house, just wastes it. I have talked with them, pleaded with them, but the mother and daughter have just blocked me."

As for the elderly Vrolijk, Parrotte believes he ought to be able to get into a home on the Dutch side if he is receiving a pension from that side. Clarification could not be obtained immediately from SZV yesterday on the matter.

Despite spending a lot of time and money on the family, Parrotte said she was still willing to help if she was allowed to and fears for the children's welfare. She said there was a limit to what social services could do if the family persisted in refusing outside help. The question is whether the Collectivité has an obligation to intervene on humanitarian and sanitary grounds to regulate the situation despite resistance.

Vice-President Ramona Connor, who is in charge of the Department of Solidarity and Families, said she was not aware of this particular family's situation, but would enquire with social services to obtain a status report.