~ Economic Doom, Mass Closures and Layoffs on the Horizon for Sint Maarten. ~ PHILIPSBURG — In reference to the proposed draft Stimulus Plan, which was made public, the Indian Merchants Association (IMA), SMTA, SHTA and SMMTA expresses its shock at the callous disregard of St. Maarten employees and businesses in general and the economy in particular during these unprecedented testing times of crisis in the form of a Global Pandemic. While the focus of the policy makers has been mainly on people who can face unemployment or self-employed persons, it fails to address the real issues and hardships of…
Author: The Publisher
By Hilbert Haar To write that these are challenging times qualifies as the understatement of the century. But here we are, smack in the middle of an unprecedented crisis that has turned all of our lives upside down. The only certainty we have right now is that nothing is certain anymore. Businesses are teetering on the brink of extinction and when businesses go down their employees go with them. When there is no income and all reserves are exhausted there will be no more food on the table. It’s a bloody nightmare, no two ways about it. And in the…
PHILIPSBURG – Within three to six months 45 percent of workers currently employed in the private sector will lose their jobs. This appears from a survey among 580 businesses by the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade association (SHTA). “Extrapolated to all active businesses this would mean the total number of unemployed could grow to well over 9,000,” the SHTA says in a press statement. The dramatic outcome of the survey assumes a best-case scenario – in other words, reality could turn out to be even worse. Within 72 hours, 580 companies reacted to the SHTA’s call for participation in the…
PHILIPSBURG – Poor people in St. Maarten run a high risk of contracting severe symptoms of the corona-virus (COVID-19) according to Drs. Raymond Jessurun of the St. Maarten Anti-Poverty Platform and the St. Maarten Consumers Coalition. Jessurun expressed his concerns during a press conference last week Thursday, on March 26. Jessurun said that 94 percent of the population lives in “poor and needy households” and that the majority of these people are at risk for ailments like high blood pressure and obesity, while others already suffer from cardiovascular diseases or diabetes. “If their immune system is weakened and they are…
Prime Minister & Chair of the EOC Silveria Jacobs Updates on COVID-19 Developments MARCH 29, 2020: People of St. Maarten, both at home and abroad, I hereby address you, as Prime Minister and Chair of the EOC (Emergency Operations Center), in an update for today Sunday, March 29, 2020, as part of the process to keep the community of St. Maarten informed about the latest developments and Government’s COVID-19 preparedness, prevention, mitigation and response measures. In a meeting of the EOC held today, March 29, 2020, on increasing measures to ensure the safety and security of the population in this…
PHILIPSBURG – “We are one Kingdom, we are all in the same boat and will help each other,” said Minister Raymond Knops (CDA) of the Interior and Kingdom Relations ten days ago. But after the reunion of the Kingdom Council of Ministers, last Friday, he pointed to the islands’ own responsibility and said that if the Netherlands makes money available, it should come back into the Dutch treasury. St. Maarten, Curaçao and Aruba have asked the Netherlands for help to deal with the corona crisis on the islands. Aruba has forty registered corona infections since Saturday morning. None of the…
PHILIPSBURG – The Board Financial Supervision (CFT) has advised the Kingdom Council of Ministers (KCOM) to allow St. Maarten to deviate from article 15 of the consensus kingdom law financial supervision. The CFT is however unable to advise how far the country should be allowed to deviate, due to a lack of pertinent information. The CFT sent its advice to the KCOM in a letter dated March 24. Article 15 of the financial supervision law stipulates that the country’s budget has to be balanced. The interest burden on capital investment loans is capped at 5 percent of the average state…
People of St. Maarten, both at home and abroad, I hereby address you, as Prime Minister and Chair of the EOC (Emergency Operations Center), in an update for today Saturday, March 28, 2020. Today, Saturday, March 28, 2020, I held a meeting with the members and stakeholders of ESF 6 which was led by Public Health. In this meeting, representatives of the SMMC (St. Maarten Medical Centre), the Ambulance Department, and General Practitioners (GPs) were present. ESF 6 Coordinator/Acting Secretary-General and Head of the Public Health Department Fenna Arnell as well as Collective Prevention Services (CPS) were also present. Fruitful discussions were held with the stakeholders aimed at enhancing communication, cooperation, and collaboration seeing our limited capacity and resources. We were able to conclude very important decision points on the way forward in…
HARBOR VIEW — While observing social distancing protocols, members of the new Jacobs II cabinet were sworn in today, Saturday, March 28, 2020, by His Excellency, the Governor, drs Eugene B. Holiday, in the reception hall of the Governor’s Cabinet. In his speech the Governor referenced the January 9th elections that led to the formation of this National Alliance/United People’s Party coalition. It was the task of leader of the National Alliance (NA), Silveria Jacobs, as Formateur to form a government. The screening process for the candidates took almost two months to complete. On January 27th the Governor handed Jacobs…
People of St. Maarten, both here and abroad, I hereby address you, as Prime Minister and Chair of the EOC (Emergency Operations Center), in an update for today Friday, March 27th, 2020, as part of the process to keep the community of St. Maarten informed about the latest developments and Government’s COVID-19 preparedness, prevention, mitigation and response measures. Yesterday, Thursday, March 26th, 2020, I updated you on the joint controls being executed by the Police Force of St. Maarten together with their French counterparts. These controls started today, Friday, March 27, 2020. I have been asking for persons to heighten…
