PHILIPSBURG – United Democrats MP Sarah Wescot-Williams expressed her surprise about a press release from Justice Minister Anna Richardson about her effort to be informed about the process to arrive at the establishment of the function books for the justice personnel. Not without reason: the relevant draft national decree has been at the Council of Advice for more than six months – since January 3 of this year. According to Wescot-Williams, Richardson’s predecessor, Egbert Doran, issued a statement on January 7 saying that “the document was approved and has been submitted to the governor and will be forwarded to the…
Author: The Publisher
GREAT BAY — The Council of Ministers decided to have a reduced schedule of flights from the United States to St. Maarten starting August 1. Minister responsible for Tourism Ludmilla De Weever stated that any changes to this decision would be based on the advice coming from the Ministry of Health. While the French Side’s representatives have threatened to close the borders if the Dutch side opened the airport to American flights, she said that a risk assessment is presently being done on a country-to-country basis. She explained that among the requirement is that the testing must be done 72…
GREAT BAY — At Wednesday’s Council of Minister’s press briefing, the minister responsible for Education, Drs. Rodolphe Samuel said the opening of schools on the island depends on the Coronavirus situation. According to Samuel, this information has already been shared with the relevant school boards. Consequently, they are looking at the different scenarios as to which will be best for the school. The minister noted that the pandemic had prioritized the opening of the schools, and the school boards have been given different approaches for their openings. These include opening the school as usual or going back to school where…
PHILIPSBURG – Media reports about the reform of the pension system, combined with an advice from financial supervisor Cft have caused some confusion about the real state of affairs. Minister Panneflek announced that the AOV-reserves (the funds used to pay old age pensions) will be exhausted in 2038 and the Cft expressed concerns that the 11.11 percent increase of the pensions would wipe out the savings that would result from the increased retirement-age. Is this is a reason for panic among those who will retire around eighteen years from now? Not yet. Let’s take a closer look at the AOV-fund…
By Hilbert Haar Four employer organizations have launched what feels like a pre-emptive strike against the imminent reform of the Social Economic Council by joining forces and establishing the Employer Council of St. Maarten. This way, the Marine Trades Association (SMMTA), the Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA), the Indian Merchants Association (IMA) and the Timeshare Association (SMTA) pretty much take the wind out of a mandate that was given to the Chamber of Commerce for the establishment of an umbrella organization for employer-organizations. With this new council a reality, the Chamber can save itself the trouble. Interestingly, the four associations…
PHILIPSBURG – After the Windward Islands Chamber of Labor Unions (Wiclu) as the umbrella organization for employees, St. Maarten now also has a similar organization to represent the interests of employers: the Employer Council St. Maarten. Participating in this council that was legally established on July 10 are the Marine Trades Association (SMMTA), the Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA), the Indian Merchants Association (IMA) and the Timeshare Association (SMTA). Currently missing in this line-up is the Chinese Merchants Association but that could change anytime since the council has declared itself open to membership for professional business associations as long as…
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…
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…
