Dear Editor, In the Council of Ministers Press Briefing held on Wednesday, June 17, 2020, the Honorable Prime Minister Jacobs recounted the virtual meeting that she and the Minister of Finance had with State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations, drs. Raymond Knops. The word that caught my attention during the Prime Minister’s report was the word “respect” because she used it several times during her talk. Apparently, the meeting did not go as the Prime Minister expected, and as she said it was “ended quite abruptly by State Secretary Knops”. I think that before judging who is right…
Author: The Publisher
AIRPORT—The WICSU and the ABVO unions representing the workers at the Princess Juliana International Airport have finally come to a compromise with the management of the airport on the cost-cutting measures for the workers. According to the Chief Executive Officer Brian Mingo, the meeting was cordial. During a general meeting to explain the way forward for the airport, several topics were discussed, including the proposal on the cost-cutting measures with the staff on Wednesday. Mingo pointed out that the government of St. Maarten had issued a 12,5 percent cost-cutting measure for all workers across the board. However, Windward Islands Airways…
AIRPORT — On Wednesday, June 17, 2020, several meetings and discussions took place between the airport workers and management and representatives of government/parliament, in particular, President of Parliament, MP Rolando Brison, who can be seen here in this video clip addressing the employees at the Princess Juliana International Airport, who voiced their concerns and told MP Brison that they were ready to strike if their concerns were not addressed by the airport management board. Watch the video online here>>> Airport worker describes her family’s plight after hurricane Irma with no assistance from Airport yet her pay was cut because she…
PHILIPSBURG – The temporary closure of the border between the French and the Dutch side of the island has brought to light the magnitude of fraud with the French social security system, committed by people living on Dutch St. Maarten. The soualigapost.com web site reported this week that social security payments by La Banque Postale dropped by around one million euros each in the months of April and May due to the fact that Dutch side fraudsters were unable to enter French territory to withdraw money – putting the damages for that period against the current rate of exchange at…
“We are in serious times, that require strong forward-thinking leadership,” says UD board PHILIPSBURG — The board of the United Democrats (UD) held an urgent meeting on Tuesday evening to discuss the latest developments and issues affecting our people and our country, the party board’s release stated. The release further states that one of the main premises of the meeting was to hear from the party leader, MP Sarah Wescot-Williams, and get the board’s perspective on some key issues, “we as a people are faced with today.” “We surely have not been blind to the issues plaguing our people and…
PHILIPSBURG -– On June 16th, 2020, State Secretary Knops held and chaired a meeting regarding several urgent matters, including the conditions for further liquidity support from the Kingdom Council. Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs and the Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion were in attendance. The Prime Minister believes that State Secretary Knops did not have all the necessary information before the meeting and behaved in an unbecoming manner. Prime Minister Jacobs stated, “As kingdom partners, we should treat each other with mutual respect, and that certainly did not happen during the meeting.” According to Prime Minister Jacobs, the information submitted on…
by Dr. Hensley D. Tromp ~ The Corona RMR walks and talks like the pre-Corona RMR ~ With unmatched exuberance, the Curaçao government announced the Rijksministerraad (RMR) decision of March 27, 2020, to exempt Curaçao from complying with the provisions of article 15 paragraph 1 of the Rijkswet financieel toezicht (Rft), which calls for a balanced budget. This decision by the RMR was taken in light of the government’s request in pursuit of article 25 paragraph 1 of the Rft to deal with the consequences of the coronavirus crisis. This exuberance proved short-lived, however, when it was announced that on…
PHILIPSBURG -– On June 16, 2020, Party for Progress (PFP) Members of Parliament (MP) Melissa Gumbs and Raeyhon Peterson have submitted questions to the Honorable Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (VROMI) Egbert C. Doran. Previously, on February 26th, 2020, the PFP faction had submitted questions to the then-caretaker Minister of VROMI Christopher Wever concerning the actions undertaken by the Ministry during the period of caretaker status of the former Council of Ministers. The questions posed to Wever concerned, among others, the long outstanding lack of policy related to the issuance of government long-lease land and water…
PHILIPSBURG— Faction Leader for the United People’s Party in Parliament of St. Maarten, the honourable Grisha Heyliger-Marten, is demanding that government “put our local contractors and companies to work first.” In a press release issued Tuesday by MP Heyliger-Marten she asked whether the mistakes of the past would repeat themselves where foreign contractors are allowed to bring their own heavy equipment to the island despite many local companies owning the same types of machines. “I am calling on the Ministers of Government responsible for these projects to ensure that this time around the people of St. Maarten are protected. Contractors…
POND ISLAND — The Supervisory Board of Directors of the Telem Group of Companies has recently requested a shareholders meeting with the Council of Ministers; specifically, with the Shareholder Representative and Prime Minister, Ms. Silveria Jacobs. The purpose is to discuss pending matters from the previous sitting government, with specific attention to the current situations brewing at the Telem Group of Companies. The Supervisory Board in its communication to the government provided a proposed agenda which includes among other topics, the appointment of a fifth board member, a spot that had to be filled since the removal of Mr. Arnell…
