The need to better protect consumers from unscrupulous businesspeople is an issue that particularly the Chamber of Commerce has been raising for years. The matter came up once again during a Central Committee of Parliament hearing last December on pending changes to the Civil Code.

Those discussions centred on introducing a Consumer Protection Act on which the Small Business Development Foundation (SBDF) worked dating back to 2006. Concern was raised that such legislation be balanced so that neither the sellers nor the buyers can misuse it, while a "better business bureau" is also considered recommendable to set standards and guide the general public.

More than a decade ago there was actually a foundation of Virgilio Brooks in St. Maarten that at least attempted to defend the interests of consumers. That organisation went dormant, however, and there has been no replacement since.

In Curaçao, the "Fundashon pa Konsumido" has been very active since the late 1980s in denouncing unfair sales practices and keeping the business community in check. The foundation receives an annual subsidy to be able to perform its work without outside influence and, among other things, regularly does price comparisons between supermarkets, but also other kinds of stores.

Bonaire is currently in the process of revitalising its Consumer Advice Centre at the initiative of local government, having noticed the considerable price increases since the island became a special overseas public entity of The Netherlands and switched from the Antillean guilder to the US dollar (see related article).

While laws to protect consumers are obviously crucial, it's also important to have a local, independent agency with a distinct face and voice, so that duped consumers also have somewhere to go. Just as the Ombudsman is there to provide safeguards against abuse by government and its entities, so too a foundation with a similar task regarding the private sector should be set up as soon possible.