~ Says Irion trying to play word games ~ PHILIPSBURG — Civil servants possibly having to sustain more cuts to their salaries and benefits was one of the main areas of concern highlighted by Independent MP Christophe Emmanuel during the Central Committee meeting discussion on the country reform package on Monday. In total the MP asked 73 questions about various aspects in the country reform package. The MP also took issue with the Minister of Finance for trying to use “word games” to deviate and mis-lead about hiring more people just a few weeks after cutting benefits and being instructed…
Author: The Publisher
PHLIPSBURG — Members of Parliament had literally hundreds of questions during Monday’s Central Committee meeting about the country package agreement the government signed with the Netherlands but nobody expressed explicit objections. Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs had asked for the meeting to provide Parliament with an update. She described the timeline from the first negotiations up to the signing of the agreement that is linked to the Dutch willingness to keep the government afloat with liquidity support. “Without those loans in the form of liquidity support the Caribbean Dutch countries would have been bankrupt,” Jacobs said. The prime minister emphasized that…
WELFARE ROAD, COLE BAY — The Police Patrol and the Traffic Department was alerted to a serious traffic accident that took place Friday, February 26th, 2021, around 1:15pm, next to Kimsha Parking lot in Simpson Bay, whereby a rider of a cream-colored scooter was badly injured. On the scene the patrol encounters the rider, with the initials D.S., who was suffering from severe lacerations to his face and legs and was complaining of pain. According to the preliminary investigation by the traffic department, it appears that the driver of the gray Hyundai Accent was driving towards the Simpson Bay Bridge.…
PHILIPSBURG — Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Wednesday said that a letter from the St. Maarten Airline Handlers Association (SAHA) and its Airline Operating Committee (AOC) is the biggest indictment yet presented against CEO of the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) Brian Mingo. “When the representative of all major airlines, your most important stakeholder, decries working conditions that go against basic principles in aviation, then it is past time that you pack up and leave or the airport holding board finalizes his dismissal,” the MP said. On February 22, the AOC sent a letter to Prime Minister Silveria…
PHILIPSBURG — On February 23rd the Prosecutor’s Office notified lawyer S. R. Bommel that based on the investigation carried out by the National Detectives there is no need to continue an investigation against her client MP Omar Ottley. There is insufficient grounds to proceed with prosecution therefore the case against MP Ottley is dismissed (geseponeerd). MP Ottley was nominated as a candidate minister. Seeing that Sint Maarten doesn’t have a screening law in place yet for candidate ministers, MP Ottley voluntary agreed to a screening process carried out by VDSM. During this screening process Ottley was informed that the Prosecutor…
By Terrance Rey Esmee Bakker is an oral hygienist or what is known as a dental hygienist. She is 41 years of age, married and has two sons, 6 and 9 years old. Esmee is a new dental hygienist on the island of St. Maarten. She completed her studies at the Academic Center for Dentistry in Amsterdam in The Netherlands. She worked in Curacao for 4 years after graduating in 2001, that’s where the love for the Caribbean started. In December 2020, she moved with her family to St. Maarten. “We have been received so friendly on the island by…
PHILIPSBURG — With a second postponement of the Central Committee meeting to discuss the Caribbean Organization for Reform and Development (COHO), Independent Member Of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel has questioned why government is now clearly stalling and keeping information from the people of St. Maarten. The meeting was requested weeks ago by Emmanuel along with MP’s Claudius Buncamper and Akeem Arrindell of the USP faction. The meeting has now been postponed twice with no explanation provided by government. In the meantime, the MP pointed out, “the COHO is pressing full steam ahead with a PR campaign, Facebook page, website, the works.…
By Hilbert Haar Blogger Bibi Shaw is a borderline criminal. At least, that is the inevitable conclusion if statements attributed to Sharine Daniel in a media report about Shaw are truthful. Shaw is only a criminal if both observations are correct, but they cannot both be incorrect. If Daniel is lying Shaw cannot also be a criminal. If Daniel is telling the truth, Shaw cannot be innocent. But the unhealthy odor that Shaw’s infamous blog has been emitting for years suggests that Daniel is most likely telling the truth. What is this all about? Daniel explained to the supervisory board…
PHILIPSBURG — The Common Court of Justice has ordered the Public Prosecutor’s Office to prosecute MP Claudius Buncamper for crimes he allegedly committed when he was heading the Infrastructure Department at the Ministry of Public Housing, Urban Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (VROMI). While the press release from the anti corruption task force (TBO) does not mention Buncamper by name (instead it speaks of “a politician in St. Maarten”) the suspect himself has already made public statements about his upcoming court case. In July 2018 the Detective Cooperation Team (RST), directed by the TBO, started a broad criminal investigation under the…
PHILIPSBURG — Members of Parliament fired dozens of questions about the airport at Minister Ludmilla de Weever (Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication) during a central committee meeting on Monday that lasted almost five hours, but they will have to wait for the minister’s return next week Wednesday before they will get any answers. Airport Director Brian Mingo gave a brief presentation, saying that the airport had been doing relatively well in 2020 by recording 37 percent of the passengers it handled in 2019, while the global average recovery-number is 25. MP Melissa Gumbs later remarked that using the numbers…
