By Hilbert Haar I always thought that when a woman says no she means no but apparently the rules in politics are different. This thought crossed my mind after reading the press release from the Prime Minister’s office upon her return from The Hague where Curacao, Aruba and St. Maarten heroically refused to accept the kingdom’s conditions for continued liquidity support. “All countries stood their grounds in not accepting the conditions attached to the loan as presented by the Netherlands because it infringes on their autonomy.” To make things perfectly clear, Jacobs added in her press release “that St. Maarten…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG – The Caribbean Reform Entity (CRE) – if it ever becomes a reality – will take measures to reform the education systems in Curacao, Aruba, and St. Maarten and also look for ways to improve the healthcare system on the islands; all this, according to the document that outlines the intentions of the CRE, in consultation with the countries. The CRE-document notes that the COVID-19 crisis has made the shortcomings in the healthcare systems painfully clear. To keep this crisis manageable St. Maarten has to execute the advice issued by the OMT (Outbreak Management Team). Prof. Dr. Jaap van…
PHILIPSBURG – The Caribbean Reform Entity wants to contribute to strengthening the constitutional state, it appears from the document the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations that outlines the entity’s plans for Curacao, Aruba and St. Maarten. One of the projects is to put management and control of the Crime Fund in order. The CRE-document simply states that St. Maarten will abide by the recommendations from the Law Enforcement Council; the same applies to Curacao. Both countries have to appoint an independent organization that will be tasked with controlling whether the fund abides by the recommendations and whether it…
PHILIPSBURG – The document authored by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations that outlines the measures the Caribbean Reform entity (CE) intends to implement in St. Maarten Curacao and Aruba pays keen attention to economic reform with a series of nine projects. And once more, many of these initiatives should have been taken by successive governments since 10-10-10, but they never did. Possibly the most prominent change the CRE is promoting is a further increase of the retirement age. St. Maarten’s Parliament recently approved the increase from 62 to 65 years, but the CRE proposal foresees an increase…
PHILIPSBURG – Reading through the document that outlines the 59 measures the Caribbean Reform Entity (CRE) has in mind to put St. Maarten, Curacao and Aruba in better shape feels a lot like looking at an X-Ray that reveals in very embarrassing detail all the things successive governments should have done since 10-10-10 – but never did. This article highlights most of the proposed measures in the field of the costs and effectiveness of the public sector; this section contains 15 of the 59 CRE-measures. The CRE-objective is to increase the effectiveness of the public sector by decreasing the wage…
PHILIPSBURG – Government and Parliament will have their hands more than full in the next couple of weeks now that State Secretary Drs. Raymond Knops has released the detailed conditions for continued liquidity support. St. Maarten must get a whole range of measures in place by mid-September and for some measures, the deadlines are even tighter. This appears from several documents Knops sent to the Kingdom Council of Ministers. The government is asked to enter into a country-specific package agreement that will end on December 31, 2027, with the option of an extension by two years upon mutual agreement. The…
PHILIPSBURG – In collaboration with the Department of Foreign Relations (DBB), the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sport (ECYS), and the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic and Telecommunication (TEATT), a repatriation flight has been arranged with Spirit Airlines for students and residents to return to St. Maarten. The flight will depart from Hollywood International Airport (FLL) in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and proceed to Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM). Students and residents who have already registered via the DBB, ECYS and TEATT, have been forwarded to Spirit Airlines. Spirit Airlines will make the flight available for online booking via spirit.com as of 3:00 PM…
~ Review Thesis of Arjen Alberts: “Tourism industry exceeds carrying capacity” ~ PHILIPSBURG – “I will show that Small Islands Tourism Economies not only exceeded their carrying capacity but also no longer show any increase in productivity.” This is the premise of economist Arjen Alberts’ thesis “Small Island Tourism Economies and the Tourism Area Lifecycle; Why Aruba and Sint Maarten have exceeded their carrying capacity.” Alberts defends his thesis on September 21 in the Agnietenkapel at the University of Amsterdam to obtain his doctoral degree. The thesis is under embargo until the date of Alberts’ promotion, but he allowed StMaartenNews.com…
PHILIPSBURG – The Parliament stands firm behind the decision of the Council of Ministers to reject the establishment of a Caribbean Reform Entity as a condition for continued liquidity support. All fifteen MPs voted on Wednesday in favor of a motion that rejects the conditions presented in the draft Kingdom law Caribbean Reform Entity. The Kingdom Council of Ministers expects a decision from not only St. Maarten but also from Aruba and Curacao about the proposal on Friday. All three countries are against.
WILLEMSTAD – Former Prime Minister Gerrit Schotte has to pay 1,844,190 guilders ($1,030,274) to the government of Curacao, the Common Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday. The ruling confirms a decision by the Court in First Instance of August 30, 2018. Schotte appealed that decision to no avail.
