Following the protocol ceremony for the official opening of the new parliamentary year, members of the fraction of the Aruban People’s Party (AVP), drs. Mervin Wyatt-Ras shared her reaction to the speech presented by His Excellency Governor Alfonso Boekhoudt commenting that he did not hear enough about the challenges Aruba faces in the social sector. As is well known, the speech is one of the policies of the Wever-Croes II Cabinet.
The parliamentarian took the opportunity to congratulate all members of his faction and others, as well as the independents, in addition to the staff of the parliamentarian. He thanked them for their great support to the operation of the Parliament and invited his colleagues to do a job that Aruba can be proud of.
Indeed the speech mentioned how the purchasing power of the Arab citizen has decreased and how the economic situation is more difficult. “Every day we hear that it’s good that it’s come forward, but I still feel the need to bring forward what the government is going to do to address the social part”, Wyatt-Ras commented.
Although he spoke about the health aspect that will certainly remain a focus for our community, he did not show how to help our people more in the social area; come up with some alternatives. On the other hand, what Wyatt-Ras agrees with is that, as a people, we must fight for the integration of our citizens, in addition to safeguarding our democratic rights.
The latter is precisely what is at the moment not to be gauged by the government. And although the Speaker of Parliament heeds the call to unite and stand up for our rights, Wyatt-Ras believes that it should not be just words, but action and example. For the AVP parliamentarian, it is his 20th year in parliament and he is very aware of this responsibility. He regrets that the Minister of Finance and Culture, Xiomara Maduro, did not give an act of presence at this important ceremony.