SINT MAARTEN (PHILIPSBURG) – The St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce & Industry (COCI) is in the final phase after steering the process leading to the establishment of the “Soualiga Employer Association (SEA).” The establishment of the SEA is part of the process of nominating various representatives to the high council of state the Social Economic Council (SER). A list of names will be submitted to the Prime Minister hopefully by the end of the week of September 7. President of the COCI Supervisory Board Benjamin Ortega, said on Friday that COCI was mandated by the Prime Minister back in April…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG — Party for Progress’ Members of Parliament MP Melissa D. Gumbs and MP Rayhean A. Peterson, in a letter sent from Parliament, urge Government to consider the two pieces of advice received from the Council of Advice seriously and to resume discussions with the Dutch government about the proposed consensus Kingdom law and the much-needed liquidity support for St. Maarten. The letter dated September 1, 2020, reads as follows: “We have now received both advices from the Council of Advice. While the Prime Minister, and indeed several of our colleagues, have maintained that State Secretary Knops has ‘shut the…
ST. PETERS — On Saturday, August 29, 2020, some thirty families received two bags of groceries, bottled water, facemasks, and COVID-19 awareness pamphlets compliments of the Hyacinth Richardson Educational Awareness Foundation and Secours Populaire Français. These two organizations intend to give away 260 food bags in the coming week to families and senior citizens negatively impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The Hyacinth Richardson Education Awareness Foundation, HREAF, founded by Member of Parliament Hyacinth Richardson, has found an international partner in Secours Populaire Français (SPF), a French Popular Relief organization, which is a French non-profit organization founded in 1945, dedicated to…
Our local accountant had some very interesting things to say wherein he gave us his opinions about the demands SZV was imposing on some of his clients. Companies are utilizing a loophole by filing zero for the wage tax and social premiums. It is expected that these companies also file “0” for the turnover tax over the same periods. SZV is not falling for this trick, however. According to our accountant, SZV requires companies to de-register employees that, due to the lockdown and the present economic crisis, are not being paid and to re-register those employees when things pick back…
PHILIPSBURG – In a media release dated August 31, 2020, Party for Progress members of Parliament Melissa Gumbs and Raeyhon Peterson expressed their disappointment and agitation at what they call the ‘horse-leading’ of Parliament and the country to a conclusion dreamed up in the minds of the governing coalition, which they say is made evident by the fact that the July 28, 2020, advice from the Council of Advice has not been provided to Parliament due to being “missed” by the Prime Minister’s office. “It is totally and completely unacceptable,” Gumbs said, “that Government has had this advice since the…
PHILIPSBURG — Following last week’s media reports that the Point Blanche Prison Inmates Association expressed its concerns about the health conditions at the institution, United St. Maarten Party (USP) Members of Parliament (MP’s) Akeem Arrindell and Claudius “Toontje” Buncamper sent a letter to Justice Minister Anna Richardson on Monday, requesting clarification on the concerns brought forward by the Inmates Association. The association, represented by Sjamira Roseburg sounded, what is being referred to as “an even louder alarm” urging the powers-that-be to “get serious about restructuring the prison system or risk facing a situation they will not be able to control.”…
~ Legal jurisprudence needed whether lockdown is force majeure or not ~ PHILIPSBURG — We asked local accountants to provide us with their Top Three Tips for businesses on St. Maarten to survive this economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One local accountant sent us an extensive email on the following issue. In this article, we would like to discuss this highly important topic for many businesses on the island impacted by government lockdown measures. According to the accountant, SZV is now requesting companies to write out (read: fire) employees because companies have been filing “0” in wage taxes…
Dear Editor, A great many yachts migrate from the Northern Caribbean to the Southern Caribbean to evade the hurricane belt every year. This year with the Covid danger all the territories closed their borders and for a while the yachts were without a hurricane-free destination. There are currently four destinations for yachts outside the hurricane belt being Trinidad, Grenada, Curacao and Aruba where storage and service facilities exist. Trinidad and Curacao kept their borders closed and created no opportunity for quarantine to allow boats to be stored and serviced. Grenada and Aruba created opportunities for yachtsmen to quarantine for two…
PHILIPSBURG – The article StMaartenNews.com published Friday, August 29, 2020, under the headline ‘Pension fund toys with plan to reduce pensions’ has triggered a reaction from APS director Nadya Croes-Van Putten that should put the minds of pensioners at ease: ‘At no time has APS ever been in a situation that would require such a measure to be implemented.” Our article was based on a compliance audit from the General Audit Chamber. This report states literally on page 13 under 4.2: “The current recovery plan (of 2019) contains far-reaching measures (including reduction of the pension).” In its preface, the audit…
~ No jurisprudence on ‘no work, no pay’ policy of employers during lockdown ~ PHILIPSBURG – The department of labor affairs and social services has a top-ten of non-compliant employers, department head Peggy-Ann Dros said in an interview with Keoma la Hamer that was published on Youtube. At the same time, Dros said that “not all employers are the same,” thereby indicating that there are also companies that do stick to the rules when it comes to respecting the rights of their employees. Dros, who started working at the department seven year ago, made clear that during a disaster, like…
