Students in Netherlands critical of S4,
complain about housing, other issues
PHILIPSBURG--Shoddy living conditions, high rent and the late arrival of their medical insurance cards are among the many complaints of St. Maarten students pursuing studies in different parts of the Netherlands.
In a joint statement, 11 students studying in The Hague and three in Voorburg said that despite complaints they were not getting proper representation from St. Maarten Student Support Services (S4).
Shirley Serbony, who previously worked for S4, but who is now a mentor for students in Haarlem, said students from The Hague, Voorburg and Rotterdam had complained to her about their problems.
Contacted for comment, Education Department Head Quincy Harrigan said he was not aware of the complaints, but promised to check into them. He said S4 officials were currently in the Windward Islands and he would seek clarity on the issue when he met with them. The Daily Herald contacted S4’s office, but the phone rang out.
The students (T. Marlin, D. Remy, A. Remy, V.G., J. Mills, G.B.I., G. Mitchell, J. Arrindell, C. Gernelette, M. Meija, E. Meija, Y. Mathew and I.B.) said their housing was in a deplorable state.
“Our living situation is at its worst. We have been dealing with backed-up plumbing which has affected mostly the girls. Both entrances to the premises are broken and they have been like that from the day we moved in; literally anyone has access to the premises. Electrical wires are out in the open, faulty Internet access and many more problems that put us in direct danger of fire, electrocution and sicknesses,” the students told The Daily Herald.
“All of our cries to fix the problems have been answered with a ‘Yes, we’re working on it; we’re looking into the matter,’ or even ‘We don’t have time for that.’ We have nowhere to turn to and nobody to help us. We have health and financial difficulties driving us to the extreme and most importantly, our schoolwork is in jeopardy. We don’t know what the problem with the S4 foundation is, but it affects us. There must be a change in whatever this foundation is doing.”
The students are also questioning the 50-euro increase in their rent. They said while the apartments they currently occupy had cost 300 euros last year, they were being charged 350 euros this year.
“We couldn’t believe our eyes (especially since it had been said that) students shouldn’t pay more than 300 euros for rent. When we visited S4 office to find out why our rent was so high, we were told by (name provided) that the extra money was being charged to reduce the amount of money that we would have to pay back at the end of our studies. Other students were told their rent was high because they were HBO students, and they could afford it for they were supposed to have bigger rooms, which was not the case.”
The students, who arrived in the Netherlands in July, also said they had only received their medical insurance cards in September and had been e-mailed the Websites of the doctors four weeks later. “So for about two months, none of us was written in at a doctor’s office. To make matters worse, the insurance policy was not explained to us. We did not know what we were covered for nor how much.
“When we arrived in the Netherlands, everything seemed to be going smoothly. Our introduction week was going well until we did not get our health insurance cards. We were told that the insurance company had not sent them on time. We were written in and had all of our information regulated at the various places such as the IBG-Groep and we also went to buy our furniture etc.”
The students said Serbony was the only person to whom they could relate.
“This is a notice going out to everyone about some of the challenges some of the St. Maarten students living in The Hague are facing on a daily basis. The S4 foundation has not lived up to a quarter of the promises and the peace of mind that they have given to our parents at the meeting held at the John Larmonie Centre in July 2007 just before our departure to a new life in a foreign country,” the students said in their joint statement.
