PHILIPSBURG — It is interesting to see how the Government is managing its negotiations with the unions representing government workers. While on May 19th, the Government presented to Parliament a so-called take it or leave it deal from the Kingdom Government and an attached deadline, from media reports it appears as if Government has some maneuvering space or at least, the Government seems to think it has maneuvering space to decide “don’t cut here, cut there.” It is either that Government is not telling the whole truth regarding the conditions imposed by the Kingdom Government or the Government is taking…
Author: The Publisher
WILLEMSTAD – KPMG Meijburg & Co Caribbean has accepted a settlement of 140,000 guilders ($78,212) from the Public Prosecutor’s Office to prevent criminal prosecution. A manager of the company pays 65,000 guilders ($36,313). The settlements follow on the heels of the Troja and Cymbal investigations into dollar-tourism in Curacao. Tourists, mostly Venezuelans – picked up more than $320 million with around one million credit card transactions between 2004 and 2014. The company that facilitated the practice – the Monterrey Trading Company (MTC) of the Grynsztein family – masked the transactions as purchases for clothing or medication. After the Troja and…
PHILIPSBURG – The Ministry of Finance has sent a reminder to the Netherlands about a 40 million-guilders loan financial supervisor Cft approved in August of last year. While the Netherlands has a “current subscription” to these loan requests, so far it has not acted upon it and Finance Minister Ardwell Irion has now urged his counterparts on the other side of the ocean to honor the agreement. The consensus kingdom law financial supervision obliges the Netherlands to subscribe to loans requested by St. Maarten, based on article 16.7: “The Dutch state has a current subscription to the loans, every time…
Dear Editor, The spirit of compromise seems to be in short supply these days. A pity really and also a bit baffling. The Coronavirus does not discriminate. With few exceptions, every country, creed or color, must accept that they/we are not safe from the virus. The only action that is safe requires us to stay apart; the so-called social distancing. At first, we had to “stay apart, together” to survive. This solidarity, at least from a health perspective was automatic. Economically, the situation is quite different. ‘Lockdown’ has caused financial ‘knockdown’ for most in the Private Sector. While the COVID-19…
~ 30 May 2015 • Column by Karel Frielink ~ It’s a complaint often heard: the government lacks vision. What really is a vision? If it is about a country, in our case the Country of Curacao, a vision is an inspiring picture of the future. It’s an attainable dream. This involves ideas about the way in which the Country of Curacao could and should be able to develop in the coming 10 to 20 years: ideas shared collectively. In short, a vision of the future. And this is lacking. The Country of Curacao was born on 10/10/2010. It is…
PHILIPSBURG – In a statement issued à titre personnel, former Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor has spoken out against the acceptance of the Dutch conditions for liquidity support, saying that she is “deeply baffled” by the situation and stating that during her brief tenure she identified “24 revenue-generating measures that can be immediately implemented.” Gordon-Carty states that the VSA-ministry could generate a minimum of 5 million guilders a year by collecting fees. (According to the 2020 budget, the ministry is projected to generate 3.026 million guilders in revenue this year, down from 3.5 million in 2019). The…
Dear Editor, As former Minister of VSA of the recent interim cabinet, I’m deeply baffled and at the same time saddened at the direction my country Sint Maarten is being driven into. International human rights are to be respected and adhered to by all governments: Sint Maarten and the Kingdom government. During my tenure as a minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (VSA), I conducted checks and balances within my ministry which resulted in a frightening wake-up call. The ministry is in desperate need of funds and cutting-measures are constantly being applied. The ministry of VSA is one…
PHILIPSBURG – There is a political storm brewing over a letter Minister Plenipotentiary René Violenus sent to State Secretary Drs. Raymond Knops on May 20, informing him that St. Maarten has accepted the requirements for liquidity support unconditionally. These conditions include a 12.5 percent cut in the labor conditions for employees in the (semi) public sector. Did Violenus act solo when he sent this letter? Did he send the letter at the instructions of Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs? Violenus apparently claims that he acted solo, but others maintain that the instruction came from the Prime Minister and that she did…
PHILIPSBURG – Now that the government has accepted the Kingdom’s conditions for liquidity support, the salaries of civil servants and politicians are up for review: a 25 percent cut in the remuneration of politicians and a 12.5 percent cut for civil servants. Earlier we reported that lowering salaries is not all that simple. But on closer inspection it appears that the government has total control over this issue where it concerns the salaries for its civil servants. While Members of Parliament have to approve a national ordinance to regulate their lowered salaries, civil servants are basically at the mercy of…
PHILIPSBURG — Minister of Education drs. Rodolphe Samuel issued a public statement on Thursday, Ascension Day, encouraging parents to be ready for school on Monday, May 25th, 2020. The minister especially had some words of advice for the children who will be going back to school to sit for their exams. The minister is encouraging the parents to make sure their children have all the necessary protective gear at hand so that the children will be able to abide by all safety and health protocols in the schools. In his statement, Minister Samuel asks for the cooperation of the parents…
