PHILIPSBURG — The Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten (CBCS) and the ENNIA companies say that there are “indications of bribery” of former Minister of Finance Richard Gibson Sr. But Gibson states in a reaction that “it takes a very devious and warped mind to link the golden parachute payment I received in 2014 to my appointment as Minister of Finance in 2015.” The Antilliaans Dagblad reports that Gibson stepped down in 2014 as a member of the supervisory board of ENNIA Caribe Holding and that he received a golden parachute payment of 2 million guilders (around $1.1 million).…
Author: The Publisher
Saturday morning July 16, 2022, the Curacao newspaper Antilliaanse Dagblad published an article on its front page with a photo of Richard Gibson (Sr) titled: “INDICATION OF BRIBERY”. From the content of the article it can be ascertained that the bribery hinted at here is bribery of a government official and the basis, according to the article, is a golden parachute payment Gibson received from ENNIA at the end of 2014 when he resigned from all of the companies he held positions in the ENNIA GROUP of companies and Banco di Caribe. At the end of 2014 Gibson resigned as…
PHILIPSBURG — Ombudsman Gwendolien Mossel was highly critical of the Parliament and the Ministry of Public Housing, Urban Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (VROMI) during an interview with Oral Gibbes on his TV-program Oral Gibbes Live. “In 2019 we addressed the problems with capacity and expertise at the ministry of VROMI. We see now that they are not able to respond to the public in a timely manner or they answer not at all. In 2020 we addressed the parliament with the request to do something about this. We are now in 2022 and we see an increase in complaints against…
Philipsburg – The Ministry of Justice held the second annual Justice Week Conference 2022 hosted by the Honorable Minister of Justice Anna E. Richardson from Monday, July 11, 2022, through Wednesday, July 13, 2022, at the Simpson Bay Resort. The conference themed ‘Justice with Efficiency’ is the first activity carried out by the Ministry in commemoration of Justice Week. The conference aims to provide a platform where departments, agencies, and external partners of the Ministry can discuss topics related to their operations such as year plans, policy-based budgeting, challenges, and plan of action geared towards their efficient functioning. Present at…
We don’t understand why the airport is asking employees to provide information about payments made to them while an internal audit – or even a forensic audit – should be able to provide them with the answers. How does a company the size of the SXM Airport not know how much monies were paid to employees or by company directors and to companies hired to work for the airport company? We see the same thing at the harbor. Isn’t there a paper trail to the money trail? What kind of checks and balances are taking place within these government-owned companies?…
PHILIPSBURG — The fraud that has recently come to light at the harbor as well as at the airport begs the question what the role of the supervisory boards has been in these matters. Or rather: what their role should have been. Robbert Delissen of the Dutch law office DelissenMartens described the responsibilities of supervisory directors in an article on his website. “A supervisory director has a large responsibility and he must be alert on developments in the company,” Delissen wrote. A supervisory director must act with the insight and carefulness that may be expected from a director who is…
By Hilbert Haar If you have no arguments left or if you fear that the outcome of a debate is not beneficial to your own interests, accusing others of playing political games is always a good idea. At least, that seems to be the way MP Rolando Brison approaches the looming motion of no confidence against VROMI-Minister Egbert Doran. That motion, an initiative of the Party for Progress, is the ultimate litmus-test for any serving minister. If such a motion gets a majority, the minister has to step down. If the motion fails, the minister can stay in his job…
PHILIPSBURG — MPs Rolando Brison (UP) and Hyacinth Richardson (NA) fled a meeting of Parliament on Wednesday to prevent the handling of a motion of no confidence against Minister Egbert Doran (Public Housing, Urban Planning, Environment and Infrastructure – VROMI). The meeting was called to discuss the advice of the Council of Advice on article 50, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the constitution, but MP Raeyhon Peterson (PFP) asked to add another point to the agenda: Parliament’s confidence in the Minister of VROMI. The constitutional articles 50.2 and 50.3 deal with rules for the suspension of parliamentarians and their replacement.…
PHILIPSBURG — Members of Parliament (MPs) Rolando Brison of United People’s Party (UP) and Hyacinth Richardson of National Alliance (NA) walked out of Wednesday’s parliament meeting because Party for Progress (PFP) MP Raeyhon Peterson introduced an additional agenda point to discuss the parliament’s confidence in Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (VROMI) Egbert J. Doran. This move left the meeting without the required quorum of 8 MPs, further demonstrating the lengths to which some coalition MPs will go to prevent Minister Doran from being held accountable to the people of Sint Maarten because of a long history…
PHILIPSBURG — René Guishard no longer has his job as air traffic controller at Princess Juliana International Airport, after the Court in First Instance ruled it justified that the SXM Airport fired him for urgent reasons. Officers of the Detective Cooperation Team (RST) arrested the now 48-year old Guishard together with Chief Operating Officer Michel Hyman on October 22, 2021, on suspicions of scamming, abuse of function, forgery and intentional money laundering. The RST-investigation focused on fraud with cleaning and repair work at the airport after Hurricane Irma. Guishard’s labor contract forbids performing paid work or unpaid work that takes…
