Happy Birthday to me. Thank you readers and friends for your early avalanche of warm wishes and calls.
I woke up late, past 7am, which I rarely do, put on my sneakers, which I always do, went for a walk, then escorted Miss Coco on her sniffing adventures around the neighborhood – nothing is ever good enough for her to pee on, she is a very discerning dog.
Two teams of cleaners & clippers were working around Malmok, trimming bushes and weeds abundant after the recent rainfall. They cut down three milkweed bushes which serve as hosts to monarch butterflies. I stopped and tried to explain. Please don’t clip those, they sustain our butterfly population, but the teams looked at me with great suspicion.
I think whoever employs them, DOW, should give them a small horticulturist orientation, neem yes, mimosa, yes, milkweed? NO.
For more info: https://edepot.wur.nl/198282
Aruba has 41 invasive plant species that could use clipping, please don’t touch milkweed.
Over the past 7 months of 2020, my blog was the glue that kept my illusion of a structured day together. Sure, wine too.
I enjoyed great readership and still do, but FB tells me engagement is slipping a bit, no doubt a manifestation of GOA fatigue. I can’t stop myself from writing about GOA and our economy. It is truly an aggravation, frustrating subject, but we must stick together on that, and maintain interest.
Our representative will keep kicking the can down the road, delay, postpone, as long as we let them.
So please hold in, hold on for a while longer, we mustn’t tire of the subject
But enough digressions:
Today’s column is called Out of Work, for a reason.
One of my friends, writes: Earlier this year we featured an ad for a dishwasher and even listed the salary which was between Awg 3,000 – Awg 3,500 net including service charge and tips. NOBODY applied. We had an ad running now and we received 218 applications on line. Many people totally overqualified. I feel for these people. How will they pay their bills? Some who applied have a job but they don’t know if they will have that job next month. Another restaurant posted an ad for a supervisor pre-Covid. Not one person applied. He now received 180 applications. Most people overqualified or have no experience since they came from other sectors.
Work permits for our current loyal, experienced employees?
DIMAS is an incapacitated non-entity, and doesn’t function at all. We are losing our old-faithful professionals and are forced to use unqualified, disgruntled, and humiliated other people.
We have a real social problem on our hands, a bomb, about to explode, and all those good-for-nothing politicians refuse to help!!
End of note.
CMB, a group that netted 100M last year, reduced 44 full time employees with honors and golden handshakes. I thought the banking sector will be the last to go because of their vast earnings, in good times.
Penha won in court a most important victory, releasing 4 employees, with reasonable compensation. The judge sided with the company that lost more than 70% of its business and allowed it to cull its workforce.
The implications are enormous because that judge – bless him — just told GOA that despite so called policy, companies can and will be able to reduce their overhead if revenues decline.
While it is true that GOA’s function is to create employment, it doesn’t mean they have to hire.
It means GOA has to create a favorable atmosphere in which the private sector is willing to take the risk, invest and hire.
Under the current condition, according to a lawyer friend, he will never hire anyone, even if a position exists, for fear of being stuck with them, to the end of days.
You may call GOA anti-business with a clear conscience, as long as labor laws aren’t changed in this country.
In the past seven month, our economy has been slow cooking thanks to the wage subsidy. Employees were kept, paid lower salaries, and businesses artificially sustained.
How long can this go on?
Footnote: The rumor reported on 24ora that MinTvs fired the AZV CEO over favoritism is true. Apparently, some clever, opportunistic members of the minister’s office started operating a private transport service for dialysis patients, while the director was re-negotiating a more reasonable arrangement with the current contract holder. That private transport service company using Enterprise Rent a Car vehicles offered the pirated service for less, winning MinTvs support over his CEO.
Incidentally, the reason why Enfoke 90 will never breath a word about it is fear of losing the MinTvs favor, and some airport business concession.
That reminded me of a recent story I heard from a developer who required terrain splitzing – parcellation — for the purpose of building. He submitted his paperwork at DIP, then followed up. And followed up. DIP as an incapacitated non-entity, doesn’t function and did not respond. But the technocrat receiving the paperwork discreetly suggested his professional splitzing services. He said he was willing to do the job privately and submit it to himself at the office under his GOA employee hat. No problem.
How long can this go on?
