PHILIPSBURG — Every year around 1,600 students from the islands of the former Netherlands Antilles travel to the Netherlands to study at institutions for MBO, HBO or WO-diplomas. Those journeys do not always end well: Caribbean students struggle with a complex of issues that result more often than not in disappointing results. The ministries of education from the Netherlands, Aruba, Curacao and St. Maarten commissioned a study into the experiences of these students. The resulting report, produced by ResearchNed in collaboration with Excellent Government and Management Consultancy from Bonaire and Utrecht-based consultant Andersson Elffers Felix was competed in April. Richelis…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG — In a public meeting of parliament that lasted four hours Minister Egbert Doran (Public Housing, Urban Planning, Environment and Infrastructure, or VROMI) stuck to his opinion that the Ombudsman report about the tender for solid waste collection for the period 2021-2026 is incomplete and unbalanced. PFP faction leader Melissa Gumbs tabled a motion of no confidence against the minister. If the motion gets the support of the majority in parliament Doran will have to leave office. At the end of the deliberations, the meeting was adjourned for ten days and that’s when the motion will come up for…
4. Electricity and internet PHILIPSBURG — Establishing a business in St. Maarten is an at times an expensive road littered with stumbling blocks. The Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Tourism, Transport and Telecommunication commissioned a report to assess the local business climate, identify bottlenecks and recommend solutions. The report is produced by the Foundation Economic Research (SEO), the Economic Bureau Amsterdam (EBA) and Tackling Law. In this fourth episode in a series of articles based on the report we take a look at another issue that causes concerns not only to entrepreneurs…
~ Writes in letter to Parliament that his suspension is unfair ~ PHILIPSBURG — Suspended parliamentarian Claudius Buncamper (United St. Maarten party, USp) wants Parliament to reconsider the text of the article in the Constitution of St. Maarten that forms the basis for his suspension. On Friday, August 19, 2022, Parliament will be reconvening a meeting at 10:00AM to vote on an advice to request an advice from the Council of Advice regarding article 50, paragraphs 2 and 3, of the Constitution. This part of the Constitution determines under which circumstances a parliamentarian will be suspended. This all started when…
PHILIPSBURG — Finance Minister Ardwell Irion is diligently working on the backlog of annual financial statements. On Wednesday, he presented these statements for the years 2019 and 2020, accompanied by an announcement that the first draft of the annual financial account for 2021 is ready and that the deadline for handling it in the Council of Ministers is September 1. “After 2021 we will keep complying with the consensus kingdom law financial supervision,” the minister said. This means that, based on article 18, paragraph 4 of this law, St. Maarten will provide the annual financial report of a previous year…
PHILIPSBURG — The Honorable Member of Parliament (MP) Ludmila de Weever sounded the alarm that the deafening silence coming from the management of GEBE is very concerning and requested an urgent public meeting. The meeting request was also supported by MPs Christophe Emmanuel, Melissa Gumbs, and Sarah Wescot-Williams. “It may be a sign that GEBE has become an issue of national security,” MP De Weever warned. “We are nearing the 6-month mark since GEBE was hacked and all information was lost,” she stated. Meanwhile, MP De Weever remains steadfast in her conviction that GEBE is not telling the whole truth,…
3. Paying taxes PHILIPSBURG — Establishing a business in St. Maarten is an at times an expensive road littered with stumbling blocks. The Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Tourism, Transport and Telecommunication commissioned a report to assess the local business climate, identify bottlenecks and recommend solutions. The report is produced by the Foundation Economic Research (SEO), the Economic Bureau Amsterdam (EBA) and Tackling Law. In this third episode in a series of articles based on the report we take a look at another issue that causes many an entrepreneur nightmares: paying taxes.…
~ The Leeward Islands Geothermal and Digital Interconnexion Hub Project and it’s benefits to Country Sint Maarten/St Martin ~ From our French-side correspondentMARIGOT — The Geothermal and Digital Interconnexion Hub Project for Leeward Islands is a project that is co-finance by the European funding agency Interreg Caraibes. As of 2022, the project is in the pre-feasibility stage with a total available budget of 2.9 million euros to be used before December 2023. The pre-feasibility stage examines the potential for geothermal energy within the Leeward Islands and an inter-island digital network public partnership. “Thus far, the heads of governments of Sint…
By Hilbert Haar The Financial Action Task Force aims to inspire countries to take adequate measures against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. In March 2022 the organization updated its recommendations. Countries that fail to satisfy the FATF run the risk of being blacklisted to the detriment of their economy. One of the key recommendations comes down to this: know your customer. Banks are asked to do their due diligence when entering into a new business relationship, but they are also advised to examine the credentials of existing customers. The FATF due diligence recommendation contains these steps: identify your…
PHILIPSBURG — Today, Thursday, August 11th, 2022, the Honorable Member of Parliament (MP) Ludmila de Weever met with representatives from Royal Caribbean Group (RCG), namely Vice President of Destination Development Joshua Carroll and Manager of Destination Development Mario Egües during their recent visit to St. Maarten. MP de Weever was delighted to catch up with the team that helped bring the home porting project with Celebrity Cruise Lines to fruition during her tenure in office as Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT). The RCG team was on the island to continue discussions with members of the Council…
