PHILIPSBURG – The Court in First Instance sentenced Member of Parliament Frans Richardson, leader of the United St. Maarten party (USp) on Wednesday to 36 months of imprisonment for accepting $370,000 in bribes in return for his political support for a dredging project, and for tax fraud. The court revoked Richardson’s passive voting rights (the right to be elected) for a period of five years. During the recent elections Richardson already lost his seat in parliament. The conviction is part of the so-called Emerald II-investigation into fraud at the Harbor Group of Companies. The court sentenced former harbor-director Mark Mingo…
Author: The Publisher
Lions and Asses by Cdr. Bud Slabbaert I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. I had to it read again. Then I looked at his picture and gave it another inspection. Almost everyone knows the portrait that I’m referring to. Actually, a considerate number of people carry his picture in their wallet. It’s on the foremost currency in the world. Everyone knows his name. In the USA he is probably the most respected man in history- I’m talking about George Washington. You may be curious what he said. “An army of asses led by a lion is better than…
PHILIPBURG — Interim Minister of Public Health, Labour and Social Affairs (VSA) Pamela Gordon-Carty is confident in the St. Maarten surveillance system for the deadly Novel Coronavirus (nCoV). “There is no reason to panic. While the immediate risk of infection from the virus to the general public remains low, we are taking all precautions necessary.” The minister organized a press meeting Saturday afternoon to reassure the public that the Novel Coronavirus has full attention of the public health sector. “Everyone is looking to know what this virus is exactly and if it is affecting the island of St. Maarten. At…
GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – The Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department from the Sint Maarten Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, is closely monitoring international health developments related to the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) respiratory virus in Asia. Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.…
Dear Editor, The rights of older persons to social benefits and to an adequate standard of living to support their health and well-being, including medical care and necessary social services, are laid down in the major international human rights instruments, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948, and (in more general terms) the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), The question then becomes more complicated, than to raise or not raise the pension age. The question becomes; how prepared is St. Maarten from a demographic point of view to take care of its pensioners and give…
By MP Wycliffe Smith On Monday, January 20th the Parliament of Sint Maarten held its first Question Hour (QH) for the parliamentary year 2019-2020. This QH was the fourth held thus far since it was instituted in 2017, after Hurricane Irma, according to MP Rolando Brison, who chaired the meeting. The awkward way in which this first QH for 2020 was handled attests to the fact that it is a new phenomenon in Sint Maarten’s parliamentary system, to which MPs still need to get accustomed. The QH in Sint Maarten is modeled after the Dutch “Vragenuurtje”, which was launched in…
PHILIPSBURG – Na een dienstverband van zeven jaar stapte Keith Franca eind 2019 op als directeur van het St. Maarten Ontwikkelings Fonds (SMDF). Zijn opvolger is de 30-jarige Makhicia Brooks. Franca leidde het fonds sinds de oprichting in 2012. Gedurende de afgelopen zeven jaar had het de beschikking over 23 miljoen gulden ($15 miljoen). “Ongeveer 23 miljoen gulden ($12.7 miljoen) is besteed aan de financiering van projecten, programma’s beheerd door stichtingen voor jeugd ontwikkeling, sociale zorg, seksualiteit, ondersteuning van senioren en de verbetering van districten en gemeenschappen,” zegt Franca via email in antwoord op vragen van stmaartennews.com. Tussen 2017 and…
PHILIPSBURG – After a seven year-tenure Keith Franca (64) left his position as managing director of the St. Maarten Development Fund (SMDF) per the end of 2019. His successor is 30-year old Makhicia Brooks. Franca led the fund since its inception in 2012. Over the past seven years the fund had 27 million guilders ($15 million) at its disposal. “Approximately 23 million guilders ($12.7 million) went towards funding projects, programs managed by foundations in youth development, social care, gender support, senior support and district and community improvement,” Franca said by email in answer to questions from stmaartennews.com. Between 2017 and…
By Hilbert Haar The mindboggling case of the now former branch manager of the courthouse in St. Maarten, Maritsa James-Christina, should function as a cautionary tale to all companies and organizations where somebody is entrusted with money. If you ever needed proof that the occasion makes the thief, this is it. Years ago, I interviewed a private investigator in Amsterdam who specialized in detecting fraud and embezzlement in companies. It was an interesting encounter from which I learned that people who steal from their employer – or from their tennis club, or any other organization where there is something worth…
PHILIPSBURG – The suspension and subsequent dismissal of the former branch manager of the courthouse in St. Maarten, Maritsa James-Christina, is justified, the Common Court of Justice said in a ruling dated January 21. James-Christina has to repay more than $1 million – money she embezzled between 2002 and 2017 from the court’s third party account. It is unlikely the court will ever see all that money; at a pace of $500 a month in would take 169 years to repay everything and even with monthly installments of $2,000 it would take something like 42 years. The Management Council of…
