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…
Author: The Publisher
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…
~ Political agreement no guarantee for smooth cooperation ~ THE HAGUE – State Secretary Raymond Knops is not happy with the way St. Maarten manages its airport. This appears from his answer to written question from Dutch parliamentarians about the airport’s reconstruction. A political agreement is not a guarantee for smooth cooperation, he observes. “Investing in bricks and mortar at the airport is insufficient. The way the airport is managed and the accompanying checks and balances must also be tackled. Improving corporate governance is a condition to the release of funding.” Taskforce Corporate Governance Knops reports that St. Maarten’s government…
~ Politieke overeenstemming geen garantie voor soepele samenwerking ~ DEN HAAG – Staatssecretaris Rayomond Knops is niet tevreden over de manier waarop St. Maarten de luchthaven bestuurt. Dit blijkt uit zijn antwoorden op schriftelijke vragen van Nederlandse parlementariërs over de herbouw van de luchthaven. Politieke overeenstemming is geen garantie voor een soepele samenwerking, staat voorts in de brief. “Investeren in stenen op de luchthaven is onvoldoende. De manier waarop de luchthaven wordt bestuurd en de bijbehorende checks en balances moeten ook worden aangepakt. Verbeteren van corporate governance is een voorwaarde voor het vrijgeven van fondsen.” Knops bericht dat St. Maarten…
THE HAGUE — State Secretary Raymond Knops (Kingdom Relations) and Minister Sander Dekker (Legal Protection) share concerns about the dismal conditions in St. Maarten’s detention system and say that improvements cannot be delayed any longer. Knops states this in answers to written questions from members of the Dutch parliament. “The problems are persistent and St. Maarten has made too little progress,” Knops reports. The Green Left faction asked how Knops thinks he can prevent these problems that are caused by “inadequate execution of the plan of approach and the lack of decisive leadership at the Ministry of Justice.” Knops reports…
DEN HAAG — Staatssecretaris Rayond Knops (Koninkrijksrelaties) en Minister Sander Dekker (Rechtsbescherming) delen de zorg over de beroerde omstandigheden in St. Maartens gevangeniswezen en vinden dat verbeteringen niet verder kunnen worden uitgesteld. Knops stelt dit in antwoorden op schriftelijke vragen van leden van het Nederlandse parlement. “De problemen zijn hardnekkig en St. Maarten heeft te weinig vooruitgang geboekt,” schrijft Knops. De Groen Linksfractie vroeg hoe Knops denkt dat hij de problemen kan voorkomen die worden veroorzaakt door “gebrekkige uitvoering van het plan van aanpak en het gebrek aan doortastend leiderschap op het ministerie van justitie in St. Maarten.” Knops antwoordt…
PHILIPSBURG – Verhoogd toezicht door de Europese Ministerraad is “van vitaal belang om de structurele verbetering van het detentiesysteem in St. Maarten te verzekeren in lijn met internationale standaards voor mensenrechten.” Dit is de conclusie in een brief aan het Departement voor de Executie van Veroordelingen van het Europese Hof voor de Rechten van de Mens van Adriana van Dooijeweert, de president van het Nederlandse Mensrechteninstituut. De veroordeling waar het over gaat betreft de zaak van Francesco Corallo tegen de Staat der Nederlanden. De in Italië geboren Nederlandse zakenman zat acht maanden en drie dagen in bewaring op het politiebureau…
