PHILIPSBURG — In an open letter dated May 14, Heyliger-Marten fires more than thirty questions to Prime Minister Jacobs. This letter addresses the airport reconstruction and the de-colonization issue. “The airport and its reconstruction are at the center of a dangerous and highly politicized process involving many stakeholders other than the airport itself,” Heyliger states, adding that two of these stakeholders “seem to be” the Royal Schiphol Group and State Secretary Knops. The airport reconstruction project, the politically motivated de-colonization drive, and pressure from State Secretary Raymond, Knops, the Royal Schiphol Group and the World Bank seem to have culminated…
Author: The Publisher
WILLEMSTAD — Just like St. Maarten, Curacao is also playing a poker game with Dutch liquidity support. If incoming Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas sticks to his refusal to participate in the Caribbean Development and Reform Organization (COHO) the Netherlands will stop liquidity support and demand the repayment of outstanding loans, State Secretary Raymond Knops writes in a letter dated May 5 addressed to Pisas and to incoming Minister of Social Development, Labor and Welfare Ruthmilda Larmonie-Cecilia. With its intention to step out of the COHO, the new government in Curacao puts more than $463 at risk. “If you do not…
Philipsburg – Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs expresses grave concern for the future of relations within the Kingdom, when out of one side of their mouths, the Dutch Government claims it is looking out for the welfare of the people of St. Maarten and continuously seeks ways and means to move the goal post even after conditions have been met and agreements signed. In the case of the recent move by the State Secretary of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations Knops to further delay the 5th tranche of liquidity support of 39 million Euros, Prime Minister Jacobs sees this as uncalled…
There is a false belief that because government should remain at arm’s length from government-owned companies, the management and the supervisory board members are untouchable. Wrong! If management and/or the SBODs are not acting in the interest of the company nor following instructions properly and timely given according to corporate governance procedures, then the shareholder (in the case of government-owned companies, the government) has all rights to request the dismissal and/or removal of the management and/or the SBODs. The problem in our country is that we do not follow proper procedures in anything we do. It is like the principle…
Dear Media, Would like to address you with some factual information regarding the recent political developments. It would seem as if everyone is washing their hands of the Mingo saga and now attempting to throw the honorable Minister of Teatt under the bus. The same Minister that has been thrown under the bus for doing the right thing numerous of times by her own leader and faction leader of the UP party. As with the Casino licenses, the 721 illegal businesses and other business and operating licenses that they want her to push through, her integrity wouldn’t allow and they…
Dear State Secretary Knops, We have taken note of your letter sent to Prime Minister Jacobs in regards to the suspension of the fifth tranche of liquidity support (Naf 39 million) due to very worrying developments regarding the corporate governance of Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA). We have been proactively informing the population for weeks and months on so many of the very same concerns we see listed in your letter. We have repeatedly sounded the alarm on all forms of media. Although we anticipated the consequences faced today by the Jacobs government due to a lack of proactive action…
PHILIPSBURG — Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams is demanding an explanation of the government’s handling of the PJIA airport affair. The MP also wants clarity on the suspension of the airport holding company, PJIAH, managing director Dexter Doncher. The MP is of the opinion that it would be too simple to assume that with the reinstatement of B. Mingo and the suspension of the MD of the PJIAH, Mr. Dexter Doncher, everything is back to normal. In her view, too much intrigue has surrounded this entire saga from the get-go. Foremost on her mind is therefore the question: Why only…
PHILIPSBURG — The ABN-AMRO bank has temporarily withdrawn its intention to terminate relationships with clients who live outside of the European Economic Area. The measure would have affected account holders in St. Maarten like BZSE-attorney Roeland Zwanikken and other attorneys who bank with ABN-AMRO. In January the bank informed Zwanikken and other account holders of its intention to terminate the relationship per July of this year. The attorney maintains two accounts at ABN-AMRO for himself and one for his daughter Alexia who is studying in the Netherlands. Zwanikken informed the bank that he would file a lawsuit if it stuck…
PHILIPSBURG — State Secretary Knops has put the fifth tranche of liquidity support on hold until the government has acted “sufficiently vigorous” to rectify the problems at Princess Juliana International Airport and to safeguard the reconstruction project for the airport terminal. The Kingdom Council of Ministers will take a decision about the 39 million guilders ($21.8 million) support in its meeting of May 21. Knops does not mince his words in a letter dated May 12 to Prime Minister Jacobs. He notes that the trust in St. Maarten’s government has been damaged and that Jacobs has not lived up to…
Dear Editor, I can remember back in the 90s and early 2000s, with the first large renovation project of the Port at Point Blanche, the Conditions for the financing by the Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (RBTT), was that Financial and Economic Expert, Mr. Rommel Charles of Trinidad, would be temporary appointed as Managing Director of the Port during the Financing and Reconstruction, until a period in which the Government of Sint Maarten would appoint its own Managing Director back then in the person of Sint Maarten’s own very qualified Mr. Mark Mingo, under the then DP Government with…
