DID THE CFT SET THE KINGDOM ON FIRE?[1] By Emsley D. Tromp April 10, 2020 On April 7th last, when the whole world was battling the coronavirus, the Cft struck a blow to the public trust in its raison d’être with a devastating recommendation to the RMR that was potentially worse than the coronavirus itself. The advice of the Cft was devoid of any compassion or sense of solidarity and showed complete disregard for the scale and ferocity of the corona outbreak. At issue here was the request made by the various countries of the Kingdom on this side of…
Author: The Publisher
By Hilbert Haar Let’s have a closer look at our government’s solidarity initiative of and in particular at the decision to cut the salaries of ministers and members of parliament. Based on a letter from the board financial supervision we know that parliamentarians will give up their 6 percent representation costs as of April 1st as well as their monthly car-allowance of 500 guilders. Representation costs are based on the gross salary parliamentarians receive. They get a monthly payment based on the highest step in the highest salary scale for civil servants – plus 5 percent. The prime minister and…
PHILIPSBURG — People of St Maarten, both here on St. Maarten and abroad, I hereby address you as Prime Minister and Chair of the EOC for today’s update on April 9, 2020. As part of the process to keep the community of St. Maarten informed about the latest developments and government’s COVID-19 containment, mitigation and response measures. A strategic meeting was held yesterday, April 8, 2020, with the EOC and this morning, April 9. The disaster management team comprised of ESF 4 and the back office, met with ESF 6, the health section, to strategically plan for the roll out of the…
~Digital Postcards Social Media highlights the beauty of the island with thoughtful messages to keep destination top of mind ~ PHILIPSBURG — The St. Maarten Tourism Bureau together with the St. Martin Tourism Office jointly launched a Digital Postcard Social Media campaign to bring positive awareness to the destination by showcasing inspiring photos of the island together with thoughtful messages, while encouraging persons to stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many are immobile and dependent on digital means to stay connected. Therefore, the Digital Postcard Social Media Campaign encourages everyone to reconnect with places and people by reminiscing on…
PHILIPSBURG — As per the Kingdom Council outcomes of Thursday April 9th, it is very clear that country St. Maarten needs to take its first steps out of the crisis before help from the Netherlands will be forthcoming. Meaning, that solidarity in tightening our belts needs to first happen at home; and budget cuts across the Board are expected. Those actions, together with a timely and qualitative follow-up proposal to save jobs will likely not be available until the May timeframe, but it is the only way forward to (continue to) obtain support and save jobs and livelihoods of St.…
PHILIPSBURG – The Kingdom Council of Ministers will honor the requests for financial support from the BES-islands, Aruba, Curacao and St. Maarten, Minister Raymond Knops (Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations) said during a life-streamed press conference from The Hague on Thursday morning. Knops emphasized the role of the Kingdom “We are in this together and will get out of this together. We will help you.” At the same time, Knops repeatedly pointed to the responsibility of the autonomous countries for their own financial household. The financial aid the minister referred to covers the next six weeks with interest-free loans that…
In the chaos of the corona pandemic, some things suddenly become very clear. While private businesses are the backbone of the economy, we now see that the heart of society beats with the grace of essential companies and government organizations. For the first time it is clear which they are; thanks to COVID-19 we know who cannot be missed. And what is really important. Construction has been halted. In the current situation, concrete is a side issue. Of course everyone needs a roof over their head and it would be great if a new hospital, airport and prison arise in…
PHILIPSBURG — In response to the advice the CFT has given to the Kingdom Council of Ministers (KCOM; or Rijksministerraad, RMR) on the request of Curacao for financial aid. We believe this analysis of Dr. Tromp to be quite informative and an interesting read. We also note here for the record that St. Maarten has not yet submitted their request for financial aid to the RMR as today, Wednesday, April 8th, 2020, at the time of this publication. CFT’S RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE RMR DATED APRIL 7, 2020 The legal mandate of the Cft is to monitor the fiscal situation in…
PHILIPSBURG – For the first time since its establishment almost ten years ago there is a public row among the board members of the Board financial supervision (Cft). The Cft-members representing St. Maarten (Russell Voges), Curacao (Gregory Damoen) and Aruba (Hellen van der Wal) have openly distanced themselves from an advice to the Kingdom Council of Ministers (KCom) about conditions for the financial support St. Maarten needs to survive the onslaught of the corona-virus crisis. Voges, Damoen and Van der Wal demand solidarity from stronger economies “with no strings attached” but the advice the Cft sent to The Hague for…
Dear Editor, At some point the medical and transmission risks of the Covid-19 virus will decrease and the governments will be looking to restart the economy without increasing the risk of a restart of the virus. It is impossible to say when it will be wise to start this exit from lockdown strategies but it is perfectly possible to start thinking out strategies to exit lockdowns and restart the economy when the time comes for this tough governance decision to be made. Clearly transmission risks are very different for different activities. The essence of what can be called the “Traffic…
