PHILIPSBURG – The Progress Committee that monitors the plans of approach for the police force and the prison system will continue its work for another two years. The royal decree that regulates this was established per 10-10-2010 and had been extended since then four times, every time for a period of two years. The regulation formally ends on October 10 of this year but because the situations at the prison and – to a lesser extent – at the police force still require urgent attention, State secretary Knops has now decided to extend it until October 2022. In a letter…
Author: The Publisher
AIRPORT — The outcome of an analysis, with the goal to secure the business continuity during the COVID-19 crisis, brought the executive team of the PJIA operating company, PJIAE, to the difficult conclusion that personnel cost has to be reduced. That is the core message of a two-page letter sent to the staff of PJIAE by the management team. The letter is signed by Chief Executive Officer Brian Mingo and co-signed by Chief Operations Officer Michel Hyman. “I recognize that this news is very disappointing to all and hoped we would not have had to take these steps. But with…
PHILIPSBURG – The Windward Islands Bank (WIB) has shown with two actions that it takes its corporate citizenship seriously. The bank donated 110,000 guilders (close to $61,500) to the Rotary Club of Sint Maarten for its food program and it offered its clients a 3-month moratorium on payments for loans, mortgages and credit cards. The Rotary is going to use the WIB-donation for food baskets, clean water and essential items for those in need and in support of school meal programs when schools reopen. “The WIB is very much aware of the devastating impact of COVID-19 to our economy and…
PHILIPSBURG – TelEm-director Kendall Dupersoy hit back at union leader Ludson Evers in an interview broadcast on the Lady Grace breakfast show. “If we discuss issues concerning TelEm then let’s be honest about it,” he said. Dupersoy pointed out that while Evers, leader of the St. Maarten communication Union (SMCU) had never said this personally to him, many people have told him that he (Evers) is “going all over the place saying that he is going to get me fired. But when I asked him about it he said, I never said that.” Dupersoy took issue with the union’s demand…
~ Residents and students can return and go into quarantine ~ SIMPSON BAY — The Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) is expected to resume total operations around July 1st, but to a specified number of islands that are considered as COVID-19 free, the Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) announced on Wednesday during the press briefing, according to a report published on Soualiganewsday.com. This is contingent on the COVID-19 situation within the country. The islands being considered that the international airport would re-open to are Anguilla, St. Barths, Saba, St. Eustatius, Bonaire, Curacao, and Aruba. The…
POND ISLAND — After what can be described as a short but intense back and forth of letter correspondences, TelEm Group and the St. Maarten Communication Union (SMCU) has reached an agreement regarding cost-cutting measures in fulfillment of the request of the government of St. Maarten for the government-owned company to do its share of cost-cutting to satisfy the conditions for liquidity support from the Dutch Kingdom government. The agreement, which was signed at 5:05 pm on Thursday, June 4, regards the “12,5% Cost Cutting Negotiations between Management and Union” and reads as follows: As a result of the negotiations…
AIRPORT — As international aviation publications publish ICAO’s projected opening dates of major airports around the world, the question remains whether this is a wise and justified decision. According to a report in the Antilliaans Dagblad on Thursday, June 3, 2020, the new corona positive case in Curacao proves that there are still hot spots around the world, and especially close at home in our region. Such as the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and the United States. In an article published in The Wall Street Journal, it is reported that scientists and researchers are finding evidence in their analyses of this…
By Hilbert Haar It cannot surprise anyone that the government’s cost-cutting measures in exchange for receiving liquidity support from the Netherlands have become the center of an epic controversy, especially at the government-owned companies. TelEm comes to mind in this respect with its proposal to cut salaries across the board by 12.5 percent in combination with some other measures. The message from the top: do or die. The telecom union (SMCU) objects and points to the way utilities company GEBE has dealt with the government’s cost-cutting directive. I cannot help but thinking that GEBE is exercising some creative bookkeeping with…
PHILIPSBURG – In a letter to the Second Chamber dated May 19 State Secretary Raymond Knops wrote that one of the conditions for providing liquidity support to St. Maarten is a “decrease of 12,5 percent of the complete package of labor conditions.” In other words, it is not necessarily a cut into gross salaries. In a letter dated June 2 to the supervisory boards of five government-owned companies, Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs wrote that cuts in personnel costs are “not limited to the salaries of employees and can include reductions in vacation pay, bonuses, overtime and working hours.” In other…
PHILIPSBURG – The Economic Bureau Amsterdam produced at the request of the Dutch parliament a report about performance, opportunities and solutions for the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, entitled Small Islands, Large Challenges. It does not contain any new information but it is rather a compilation of platitudes and known facts. Examples? “The economy of St. Maarten remains vulnerable to natural disasters,” “The International Monetary Fund advises a debt quote of 40 percent” and “It is necessary that St. Maarten takes the necessary measures to keep healthcare and social security affordable.” The report speaks of a “silent crisis” in the…
