PHILIPSBURG — Former Lt. Governor and former member of the Law Enforcement Council Franklyn Richards is the successor of attorney Jason Rogers as St. Maarten’s member of the Progress Committee. This appears from the fortieth progress report the committee submitted to the Second Chamber in The Hague on June 9. “Compared to the previous report there are few improvements to report,” the committee states. Its visit to St. Maarten from April 19 to 23 focused on future events, like the establishment of the function books for the justice ministry, the agreement with UNOPS (United Nations Office of Project Services), and…
Author: The Publisher
WILLEMSTAD — The Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten considers putting the shares of Banco di Caribe up for sale in an effort to generate revenue for the restructuring of insurance company Ennia. The potential sale has been approved by the court in Curacao, the Antilliaans Dagblad reports. The bank employs 250 people at its headquarters in Curacao and another 100 at branch offices in Aruba, Bonaire and St. Maarten. In Philipsburg, the bank has fifteen employees on the payroll. In a reaction to the publication in Antilliaans Dagblad, the Central Bank issued a statement to clarify the situation.…
PHILIPSBURG — St. Maarten ought to amend legislation as soon as possible so that civil servants and politicians start paying a 10 percent contribution towards healthcare costs, financial supervisor Cft writes in its advice about the second draft 2021 budget to Finance Minister Ardwell Irion. The measure is necessary to safeguard the future financial viability of the SZV-funds. The Cft also advises to establish the national decree for the execution of the pension system to enable the 10 percent contribution of participants to the pension fund as well. The draft budget lists 608 million guilders expenditures, of which 174 million…
PHILIPSBURG — The General Audit Chamber shows in its 2020 annual report that its financial management is in good shape and that the organization lives up to promise to deliver its annual report to parliament and the office of the governor before July 1st of each year. The Chamber published its 2020 annual report in early June. The report gives a clear overview of the organization’s activities and its tasks and authorities. The COVID-19 crisis has had only a limited effect on the Chamber’s activities, Chairman Alphons Gumbs writes in the report’s preface. “The Audit Chamber has been cloud-based since…
PHILIPSBURG — St. Maarten has to speed up the implementation of revenue-increasing and cost-cutting measures if it wants to return to structural budget-surpluses in the near future. “Without additional measures, the International Monetary Fund expects that the balance on the regular budget will remain negative until 2026,” financial supervisor Cft states in its advice about the amended draft budget for 2021. The maximum deficit on the 2021 budget cannot be higher than the amount of liquidity support St. Maarten stands to receive received this year. The draft budget projects revenue of 380 million guilders ($212.3 million) while expenditures total 608…
PHILIPSBURG — “The preparedness of St. Maarten to do something with the recommendations of the Progress Committee depends since 2010 heavily on the minister of justice and the government that is in office,” says Progress Committee chairman Nico Schoof. “There have been long periods when nothing happened, not from the side of St. Maarten and not from the side of the Netherlands. Sometimes it was minimal. The current minister of justice is busy with the committee’s recommendations. Recently she decided to start a fifth class of cadets who will become police officers two years from now.” The Progress Committee was…
PHILIPSBURG — Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs stated in a press release dated May 30 that the Royal Schiphol Group has “confirmed their willingness to continue with the cooperation and support at the airport seeing that the shareholder is living up to its responsibilities to address the corporate governance issues at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA). But a letter from Schiphol International director Kjell Kloosterziel dated May 27 tells a different story. Kloosterziel refers to his letters from April 9 and May 6 and to a meeting with Jacobs on May 27, saying that he is “encouraged by the commitment (….)…
THE HAGUE — The Kingdom Council of Ministers supported in its meeting of Friday, May 28, the decision of State Secretary Raymond Knops (Kingdom Relations) to freeze the fifth tranche of liquidity support for St. Maarten. The government in Philipsburg will have to take decisive action first before the kingdom will transfer 39 million guilders ($21.8 million) to the treasury in St. Maarten. The decision by the Kingdom Council of Ministers is a blow for Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs and Finance Minister Ardwell Irion who were both present in The Hague in an attempt to bring the sorely needed liquidity…
PHILIPSBURG — State Secretary Raymond Knops spoke during his visit to St. Maarten with Justice Minister Anna Richardson and Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs about the worrisome situation at the police force and the Pointe Blanche prison. Knops’ report to the Second Chamber about his trip suggests that Minister Richardson withheld information during their meeting. Knops writes in the report about his visit to the Caribbean that ended on May 21 in Sint Maarten: “The function book for the police force has not been established yet.” Two days after the end of his visit, Minister Richardson published a press release, announcing…
PHILIPSBURG — The Atlantic Hurricane Season starts June 1st and NAGICO Insurances is urging everyone to get ready for what has already been forecasted by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC), to be ‘a very active season’. “Getting an early start on your preparations for hurricane season this year is important because such preparations by itself can be stressful but it can become even more challenging when combined with handling the impacts of the current coronavirus pandemic.” In a statement issued by NAGICO Insurances, the public is implored to heed the advice from the Emergency Response Departments and local MET Office,…
