A nose for business By Terrance Rey Recently I had to laugh a lot when I heard a story about a businessman who ended up on St. Maarten and in no time he was managing a sizeable portfolio of businesses in the port. When asked how he managed to acquire so many real estate properties and businesses, he replied that when he first drove past the harbor in Pointe Blanche, he smelled business. The reason I found this so funny was because I immediately remembered the pungent smell of molasses emanating from the Pott Rum factory when I took drives…
Author: The Publisher
By Hilbert Haar Wrestling through a press release issued by MP Rolando Brison, leader of the United People’s party (UP), a couple of things stand out. First of all this statement: “The constitution can never be sidelined.” This seems to indicate that MP Brison wishes to live up to the oath he took when he became a Member of Parliament: allegiance to the King and the Kingdom Charter, maintaining the State Regulation of St. Maarten and promoting the wellbeing of St. Maarten to the best of his abilities. But there are also a few statements that offer a glimpse into…
PHILIPSBURG — Utilities company GEBE is in a serious crisis, Minister of General Affairs Silveria Jacobs acknowledged during a public meeting of Parliament on Friday, but the shareholder (the Council of Ministers) has “limited authority to intervene.” Only the supervisory board of directors can provide the solution, she said. Jacobs also made clear that GEBE has no legal relationship with parliament and that parliament has no authority over the company. “It cannot summon members of the managing board or the supervisory board to parliament; they can appear voluntarily but they are not compelled to answer questions or to provide information.”…
PHILIPSBURG — Minister Rodolphe Samuel (Education, Culture, Youth and Sports) has addressed the ten recommendations established in the Interim Education Review Report to arrive at the following conclusion: “All the proposed recommendations are being addressed.” In one sense this is correct, because Minister Samuel has indeed addressed all the issues that stem from the review-report. But in spite of an exhaustive and very detailed explanation of all the shortcomings and possible solutions for St. Maarten education-system, there seems to be very little to report in terms of actual results. The minister uses terms like initiatives, research, evaluation and even recommendations…
PHILIPSBURG — Local entrepreneurs have the tools for growth at their fingertips due to the activities of Islandpreneur, an initiative founded by Ife Badejo, president of the Foundation INFOBIZZ and founder of the Produce Wealth Revolution Agency. Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion has recognized the potential of the initiative; hence the ministry has signed up as one of its key official partners. “The Ministry recognizes development programs that strive to improve the business community through innovative means while providing the wider community with opportunities to enhance their skills in an ever-changing world,” Irion said in a statement. “Programs which focus…
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…
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…
