THE HAGUE – The third tranche of liquidity support will only become available after St. Maarten has met all the conditions attached to the second tranche and after there is a clear political agreement about the conditions attached to the third tranche. “Liquidity support will not become available before that,” State Secretary Drs. Raymond Knops (Kingdom Relations) writes in a 30-page document containing answers to questions from Dutch parliamentarians. Knops also made clear that emergency assistance will continue with or without the government’s agreement to the conditions for liquidity support. “The Netherlands will not abandon the most vulnerable citizens.” The…
Author: The Publisher
~ Seniors are ready to unite; taxation on pension income a serious issue ~ PHILIPSBURG — Senior citizens who are pensioners are ready to unite as taxation on pension income is become an intolerable issue for them. Members of Parliament will be soon be approached to tackle this situation once and for all. “We need to see laws put in place to protect pensioners.” says a pensioner and senior citizen who has been called on to be the spokesperson for pensioners in this position. The spokesperson who wishes to remain anonymous for now, says they will be waiting until a…
PHILIPSBURG – The General Pension Fund APS is not financially sound and never has been, it appears from a compliance audit published by the General Audit Chamber. While the APS coverage ratio significantly improved in 2019 from 97.6 to 103.8 percent, it still falls short of the minimum ratio of 105 percent that is required to cover its general and investment risks. Related: Insuffient progress on APS’s domestic investment projects The result of local investments is dragging the pension fund’s performance down. Since 2015 these investments have shown a negative result of around 1 percent every year. In 2018 the…
PHILIPSBURG – Party for Progress members of Parliament Melissa Gumbs and Raeyhon Peterson issued a press release on Thursday, expressing their concern over responses received to questions sent to the Prime Minister, particularly those related to Government’s much-discussed ‘plan B.’ The faction noted that they had submitted questions to the Prime Minister regarding the ongoing discussion with the Kingdom Government over support for the country, the economic recovery plan (which was requested by Parliament on July 8th” and what was in Government’s ‘plan B.’ Clarity on the economy, it seems, will not be available for several more weeks, according to…
GREAT BAY — The members of the Committee of Civil Servants Unions (CCSU), known in Dutch as the GOA, filed an official complaint with the Ombudsman against the Government of St. Maarten on Friday August 21, 2020. The CCSU in its complaint to the Ombudsman highlighted several infractions committed by the Council of Ministers throughout the negotiation process on Cost Cutting Measures as agreed to with the Kingdom Government. From the onset, the Unions continuously raised its deep concerns and remained firm in its opposition to the abundance of irregularities since the start of negotiations, with Government, on Thursday May 7,…
PHILIPSBURG – St. Maarten has a fundamental difference of opinion with financial supervisor Cft about the conditions attached to the second tranche of liquidity support, Finance Minister Ardwell Irion said during last week’s online Council of Ministers press briefing. “Our opinion is that we have met the conditions for the second tranche, while the Cft could not determine this,” the minister said. Irion said that his cabinet is currently working on a response to the concerns “to make sure we have a seat at the table. Starting the discussions about the third tranche are important.” The minister said that these…
~ MP S.A. Wescot-Williams requests a meeting of Faction Leaders to discuss urgent changes to the Rules of Order to better serve the people in these unprecedented times ~ Philipsburg, St. Maarten, August 25, 2020 – “It would appear that in the past months, the agenda of Parliament is dictated by the Government. Several crucial meetings are still pending, questions by Members of Parliament still awaiting answers, yet urgent meetings at the behest of Government are called and rushed. Information promised during these meetings is not always forthcoming”, stated MP Wescot-Williams. The MP continued to state in a release issued on…
PHILIPSBURG – The National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB) launched its Enterprise Support Program (ESP) with a virtual presentation. There is $35 million available for the next four years for eligible projects. The program is financed through the World Bank Trust Fund. The program’s online launch included brief introductory remarks by NRPB-director Claret Connor, ministers Egbert Doran (Public Housing, Urban Planning, Environment and Infrastructure) and Ardwell Irion (Finance), Elwin Groenevelt (director microlender Qredit), Derek Downes (Windward Islands Bank), Michelle Keane (World Bank program manager for the St. Maarten trust fund), Robert Jan de Wilde (office of the Dutch Representative) and Raquel…
PHILIPSBURG – Members of Parliament Wescot-Williams, Gumbs, Heyliger-Marten and Buncamper have requested a meeting of Parliament to get information regarding the (financial) state of the government-owned companies. The Members of Parliament wish to be updated as to the financial position of these companies and therefore requested a meeting to this effect with the managements and boards of these companies. In their letter, the MPs allude to the lack of information regarding these companies and express their concern that in these dire financial times, keen attention must be paid to the government-owned companies as well. “These companies have also had to…
by Cdr. Bud Slabbaert In a previous essay, the “Development from within the Caribbean” was suggested. Up to five territories could be the Founders of such an initiative. Which territories is the first question that comes up. The willing and able to proactively and wholeheartedly and who are committed and competent to take on a pioneer’s role! Does that mean the ones with the largest economies, the highest growth rate, or highest GDP, or the richest? In that case, one would tend to think of the Dominican Republic, Trinidad & Tobago, Cayman Islands, Jamaica or Bahamas. Yet, those are not…
