WILLEMSTAD.- The situation of the Free Zone at NieuweHaven is alarming, and according to the Boneco union around 70 companies have closed their doors, while approximately 600 people would be losing their jobs. According to the trade union, the Government is not giving the Free Zone due attention. In the opinion of the president of Boneco, Mr. Erwin Koenze, the Free Zone is breathing slowly, and little by little but almost certainly, it will stop its operations if things continue in this way.
There is no positive development anymore when tourist would come to buy goods with the intention of doing business. It is a known factor that in the past people from the Caribbean such as Haiti or Jamaica, among others, who come to make their purchases. “But apparently our leaders do not look at the importance of this sector. According to Koenze, we must take as an example, the market of Panama which is developing positively.
Regarding the occupation of the Free Zone at the moment, Koenze states that despite all the secrecy surrounding this point, he was informed that the situation is terrible there in NieuweHaven and this without mentioning the Free Zone of Hato. In NieuweHaven there are still a number of occupied spaces, but without buyers they will probably start laying off workers. And many of these employees already have received an offer from their employers and have accepted the offers without running the risk of going the way of SOAW and remain without getting anything.
As a trade unionist, he believes that if the authorities really give value to the human being and the worker, then they must prove it with facts, through the laws. For example, at the time a company declares bankruptcy, workers who are unemployed must first obtain their payment money derived from their salary, and not as a last link on the list.
