WILLEMSTAD - Civil servants working at the Ministry of Social Development, Labor and Welfare (SOAW) are dissatisfied with their workplace in the World Trade Center (WTC). Several employees said they would not continue to work in that building.
The ministry moved from an old refurbished building in Punda to the WTC six months ago. According to the employees, there are several issues with this location. They have published a list with sixteen points for attention.
Several things are said to be missing from the building. According to the employees, there is no canteen, no meeting room, no consulting room for clients and there are no promised partitions. In addition, the building is not accessible for people with a physical disability and the WTC is difficult to reach for people who do not have their own transport.
Other points of criticism concern the maintenance of the building. For example, the elevator does not function properly, the toilets are bad, the windows do not close properly, the carpet is dirty and the air conditioning does not work properly, causing moisture and mold.
According to the employees, these problems prevent them from functioning optimally, which they say makes them depressed and demotivated. These issues would have been going on for six years, because they were also located in a building with problems and have now moved to a building with even more. “We have been victims twice,” said the employees.