~ Press release from the soon-to-be-established Bar, Restaurant, Casino and Night Life Association for immediate publication ~ SIMPSON BAY — About 30 representatives of the bar, restaurant, casino and night life industry met on Monday to discuss implementing stricter COVID-19 measures and formalizing an association for legally established industry members. The bar, nightlife, restaurant and casino industry had come under scrutiny after an unsubstantiated recent viral message claimed that a cluster of COVID-19 infected persons was identified at a local club. Images of filled-to-capacity entertainment venues also surfaced online resulting in increased public scrutiny. While acknowledging that some in their…
Author: The Publisher
Whilst Caribbean economies claim to be looking out for opportunities to diversify their economies, in practice, they have been slow to grab the opportunity that is presented by yachting. By Robbie Ferron The yachting industry is a more complex industry than stay-over accommodation or cruise ships and this complexity is a big part of the reason for the slow take-up. The yachting industry is also highly stable and offers high paying employment when the appropriated skills are offered, something that is often mentioned as a criterion for new industries to be considered in the Caribbean. Much of the employment also…
The words of an insider: “We have met the conditions to get liquidity support via the 1st tranche and via the 2nd tranche. To get the 3rd tranche, we have to give up the country.” This seems to the general sentiment within the corridors of the Government Administration Building here on St. Maarten, but is that really the case? StMaartenNews.com brings you an extensive recap of the Caribbean Reform Entity as it is outlined in the proposal documents sent to the CAS-islands of Curacao, Aruba and St. Maarten. You be the judge for yourself. Click here to start your own…
PHILIPSBURG – The number of corona-virus infections has pushed attention for the Caribbean Reform Entity (CRE) to the background – but it is still there. Since Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs left the most recent meeting of the Kingdom Council of Ministers firmly refusing to accept the CRE as a condition for continued liquidity support there have been no further developments, at least not publicly. But the spokesman for State Secretary Knops confirmed to StMaartenNews.com that talks continue.
PHILIPSBURG – Revenue from the road tax fell sharply in the first quarter of the year – from 9.1 to 5.7 million guilders it appears from a mini audit conducted by the General Audit Chamber. The report was submitted to Parliament last Thursday, July 23. The government points to the outbreak of the corona-virus crisis as the main reason for the drop, but the Audit Chamber questions this: the due date for the payment of the road tax was March 19, therefore before the lockdown went into effect on March 22. The government extended the due date from February 29…
By Hilbert Haar The explosion of corona-virus infections on our island should not come as a surprise: it was expected. One reason is, according to a press release issued by Prime Minister Jacobs, the “systematic analysis of contact tracing” by the Department of Collective Preventive Services (CPS). The department managed to identify “more cases in a short period of time.” The latest number of new infections is unofficially reported as 69, including ten nurses. But are all these cases just the result of contact tracing? That is the big question. But maybe we know the answer already. Prof. Dr. Jaap…
PHILIPSBURG – Despite the official figures published, the latest reports indicate that there are now 35 active corona-infections on St. Maarten – and the number keeps trending upwards. Epidemiologist Izzy Gerstenbluth reacted almost immediately to this development: he will suggest to the government in Curacao to close the borders to visitors from St. Maarten. The government in Philipsburg is not doing anything: it is “closely monitoring the situation.” Elsewhere governments have reacted decisively to the (not unexpected) outbreak of new infections. Hubert Minnis, the Prime Minister of the Bahamas announced a series of strict measures that ought to give the…
Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy — In these difficult times around the health concerns caused by the COVID-19 virus pandemic, there are many confusing reports in the region and abroad about borders opening or remaining closed, and about the varying related restrictions. St. Barth takes this occasion to provide clarity on how it is handling the situation. “We want our guests in the region and abroad to know that we are very cautious to keep our island protected,” according to Bruno Magras, the President of the Collectivity St. Barth. “We know that our loyal frequent guests overseas, do their planning several months…
FRENCH SAINT MARTIN — The agreement reached this week at the European Council marks an important step in the recovery of Europe: the budget of the European Union for the period 2021-2027 is increased to €1,074 billion, and in order to support the economy, which faces a historic recession, a recovery plan of 750 billion euros has been decided, indicates the Minister of Overseas Territories in a press release. In this fund, 390 billion euros will be allocated to the states most affected by the pandemic in subsidies. It will be a common debt to be repaid by the 27.…
WILLEMSTAD – The Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten will install a new management team at insurance company ENNIA next week with Lesley-Ann Brodie as its Chief Executive Officer. Brodie spent more than ten years of her career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers as an auditor before she came to ENNIA in May 2010 as its senior manager internal audit. In October 2018 she became ENNIA’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer. In July 2018 an emergency measure was issued against the insurance company at the request of the Central Bank. The measure put ENNIA’s management under control of the bank;…
