PHILIPSBURG – The Jacobs-government is facing a tough couple of days. Monday is the last opportunity to create sufficient political support for an agreement with the Kingdom about continued liquidity support. Two days later is the deadline for the repayment of a 50 million guilders bullet loan. State Secretary Drs. Raymond Knops has informed Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs in no uncertain terms that these deadlines are real. In an updated letter sent via email to Jacobs and to the cabinet of Governor Holiday, Knops writes that he expect a statement or motion on Monday, December 14, the latest that shows…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG – The auction of the Pasanggrahan Royal Guest House on Front Street is not off the books yet. OBNA, the Development Bank of the Netherlands Antilles (Ontwikkelings Bank Nederlandse Antillen), announced in a press release that the auction, originally scheduled for December 10, has been postponed until March 4 of next year. OBNA holds the mortgage rights on the property. At the request of the current owners, the Court in First Instance granted Pasanggrahan on Wednesday a temporary moratorium of payments (voorlopige surséance van betaling) and a cooling-off period of one month. The court also appointed an administrator at…
~ And other reports ~ PHILIPSBURG — Philipsburg Merchants Association and members of St. Maarten Police Force KPSM held a preparation meeting on Wednesday about the upcoming end-of-the-year busy season. During the meeting that was held at the Philipsburg police station, police management team was informed that the businessmen in Philipsburg were preparing to reopen most of the business in the Philipsburg area. They also want to be informed about the safety plans being implemented by the police for Philipsburg. The following points were discussed during the meeting were: The busy upcoming Christmas season Security aspects in the city center…
Wednesday, December 9th, was International Anti-Corruption Day. The difficulty of exposing corruption makes a mechanism to support whistleblowers essential. In St. Maarten, the Integrity Chamber was established in 2017 as an independent body that would receive and investigate reports by whistleblowers. A draft whistleblower’s policy has not yet been finalized. These are a number of topics we will be reviewing in this article by Jacqueline Hooftman. As insiders to an organization, whistleblowers have specific knowledge, access and expertise which allow them to detect corruption or other matters of concern that might otherwise remain hidden. However, they are often in a…
~ Questions if new decree was issued ~ PHILIPSBURG — Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Thursday said the decision by Minister of TEATT Ludmila DeWeever to allow Casino Rouge et Noir to open its emergency exit facing the Cannegieter Street is in violation of the existing decree and relieves the casino of its own responsibilities towards its workers. MP Emmanuel stressed that the casino is not so much concerned about its employees as it is with making money. The casino, Emmanuel said, is the employer. The employer has its responsibilities to make sure it pays its employees and make…
PHILIPSBURG — Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel was called “our hero” on Wednesday by the owners of the Passangrahan Royal Guest House for his public support for the property, a national monument. The auction of the property was scheduled to take place on Thursday but was cancelled after owners obtained backing from a financial guarantee bond for up to $8mln from Stockton Fuller & Company to see the landmark renovation through its next three years. Independent Member of Parliament, Christophe Emmanuel came out to the defence of the national monument by raising awareness and stating it would be a “crying…
By Hilbert Haar The much anticipated meeting of Parliament about the financial status of the Bureau Telecommunication and Post (BTP) has not yet provided much clarity but especially questions asked by MP Claudius Buncamper indicate that the perceived financial chaos at BTP is finally getting the attention it deserves. The failure by successive ministers responsible for Telecommunication to step up to the plate became once more glaringly obvious. BTP’s Chief Financial Officer Judianne Labega-Hoeve showed that her organization’s annual budgets are routinely submitted too late and that they are approved by default. Is that bad? I think it is and…
PHILIPSBURG — Monday’s Parliament meeting about the financial status of the Bureau Telecommunication and Post (BTP) produced many questions, but no answers yet because Minister Ludmilla de Weever needs time to prepare them properly. Hence the meeting was adjourned until further notice which means a yet to be determined future date in 2021. From a presentation by BTP’s Deputy Director and Chief Financial Officer Judianne Hoeve-Labega it appears that BTP’s annual budgets – and with it the performance contract of director Anthony Carty – are routinely approved by default. It also appears that budgets are always submitted too late. Based…
PHILIPSBURG — Member of Parliament (MP) of the United St. Maarten Party (USP) Claudius “Toontje” Buncamper on Tuesday, December 8, 2020, posed a number of questions to the Minister of labor, Richard Panneflek, in regards to the number of recent complaints by employees of illegal dismissals taking place by employers. The MP stated in his letter to the minister that “As a result of the challenges we face from COVID-19, the country is now confronted with numerous complaints of labor abuse against employees of a number of companies such as Little Switzerland and the Towers at Mullet Bay, just to…
~ Wants Parliament to summon her in for questioning ~ PHILIPSBURG — Justice chain members of the NAPB, ABVO and WICSU/PSU unions informed union Presidents that they have lost all confidence in Justice Minister Anna Richardson and mandated the unions to do “everything within your power to involve Parliament and relay our position.” The membership gave the unions three days to pen a letter to Parliament with the objective to call the Minister to Parliament for questions “and provide truthful and concrete answers.” The letter, the members said, should mention an ultimate date of one week for Parliament to respond.…
