PHILIPSBURG — The announcement by Minister Omar Ottley (Public Health) that he intends to increase the salary-ceiling for insurance under SZV from 67.816 to 120,000 guilders (from $37,886 to $67,039) per January 1, 2022, has drawn criticism from insurance companies and from the Employer Council. They warn that the measure would lead to job losses, increased costs for businesses and lower net salaries for employees. The Employer Council – an association of the Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA), the Marine Trades Association (SMTA), the Indian Merchants Association (IMA) and the Timeshare Association (SMTA) addressed the issue with Minister Ottley in…
Author: The Publisher
~ Denounces Jacobs’ Approach to Censor Press and Public ~ PHILIPSBURG — Party for Progress (PFP) Members of Parliament (MPs) Melissa Gumbs and Raeyhon Peterson denounced recent statements made by Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs, who, during the Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday, warned that government’s attention will be focused on adjusting the country’s legislation to criminalize the press and members of the public from sharing leaked internal government documents. Instead, the PFP faction calls on the government to institute a so-called whistleblower policy. Although Gumbs and Peterson share Jacobs’ sentiments that civil servants should act with integrity and…
In reference to an article published on Thursday, September 30, 2021, in The Daily Herald on the front page and continuing on page 10 under the title “Judge approves government terminating leasehold rights”, former architect/engineer and present day writer and leader of the Integrity Advancement Movement (IAM), Roberto Achken Richardson writes: Very good ruling by the Judge in favor of the Government of Sint Maarten as it relates to the Lease Holder/Third Party Lease Holder (a) being in violation of the Lease as it pertains to an expired Lease, (b) as well as in violation by having Long Lease Yearly…
Philipsburg, St. Maarten, 20 September 2021 – “In politics, what you say can come back to haunt you.” This is how MP Wescot-Williams introduced her statement regarding the budget 2022 for the country. MP Wescot-Williams has written to Finance Minister Irion, seeking information regarding the budget 2022. “Several weeks ago in a meeting of Parliament the Minister confidently stated that the draft 2022 budget would reach the Parliament by the date prescribed in the Constitution of Sint Maarten, that being no later than September 1st. During the opening of the current Parliamentary year, we learned from the Governor’s presentation that…
By Hilbert Haar The Kingdom Council of State has finalized its advice about the amended draft kingdom law COHO (Caribbean Organization for Reform and Development) but at the moment of this writing it was not published yet. So we do not know the content of this advice. All countries in the kingdom have agreed with the process this draft law is currently going through. That is not the same as agreeing with the draft the Dutch government will shortly send to the Dutch Second Chamber and to the parliaments of St. Maarten, Curacao and Aruba. The Caribbean parliaments will get…
GREAT BAY — The Dutch Marines stationed in Aruba conducted a military exercise at the Raoul Illidge Sports Complex on Tuesday morning. The exercise named “Windward Express” included marines stationed on St. Maarten with the assistance of the naval vessel M.V. Pelican. This amphibious operation also saw marines from the ship being deployed to the shore on the frisk, which is a fast interception vessel that is able to rapidly deploy marines. In this exercise, the stage was set for the marines to extract a VIP which was at a location at the Raoul Illidge Sports Complex. According to the…
PHILIPSBURG — Between September 20 and 23 Minister Anna Richardson (Justice) visited several judicial institutions in the Netherlands and she also met with State Secretary Raymond Knops and the mayor, police chief and public prosecutor in the municipality of Leiden. Part of the trip was inspired by recommendations from the Progress Committee that monitors the situation at the police force in St. Maarten and at the Pointe Blanche prison. Progress Committee chairman Nico Schoof describes the minister’s visit as promising. “The Progress Committee has been urging for years to improve the detention situation in St. Maarten. It is great that…
Dear Editor, I am not a person of the media, but as a born St. Maartener and professional, I have decided to speak out on this matter as I am feeling very belittled and insulted by the comments made by MP Pantophlet on the Wendell Moore show yesterday September 23rd, 2021. The question posed was “if we as a country can manage our own Central Bank”. To my surprise the good MP responded with “We need third parties assistance” We as a country, especially our government is giving the Dutch Empire the ammunition to make mockery, and mostly to be able…
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PHILIPSURG — Political instability and the frequent change of government since 10-10-10 have resulted in organizational instability within the Ministry of Justice. This appears from a Quick Scan the Integrity Chamber conducted to establish the most significant bottlenecks and challenges in the ministry’s integrity infrastructure. The Integrity Chamber’s researchers met with Justice Minister Anna Richardson and with the heads of the police force, the immigration and border protection services, the National Detectives Agency and the Pointe Blanche prison. Yet, according to the report, none of the respondents was familiar with the contents of the integrity studies that were performed between…
