Dear Editor, 1) Parliamentarians in meeting of April 22 said things like: ….being sick and tired of us (SXM) having to run to Holland every time (there is a need) to BEG. 2) Alternatives of Go-To Private Investors who might be ready, willing and able to bail out St. Maarten were offered by name. But what was not mentioned was AT WHAT PRICE to the people? When it comes to looking for money to get us out of the mess we are in, we all know there is no such thing as “a FREE lunch”; so even if under the…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG – The draft 2020 budget does not contain any indication that ministers and parliamentarians will take a ten percent salary cut. On the contrary, the listed salaries for all ministers – with the exception of Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs – are exactly the same as in 2019. The salary cut is a condition for receiving financial aid from the Netherlands. Jacob’s annual salary in 2019 was 229,961 guilders; the budgeted salary for 2020 is 219,962 guilders, a decrease of 9,999 guilders (4.35 percent). The prime minister also takes a small cut in her vacation allowance (from 14,986 to 14,350…
“No loans but grants and no conditions” ~ PHILIPSBURG – No loans but grants, and above all no conditions. Those were some of the sentiments expressed by parliamentarians during a digital central committee meeting about the government’s Stimulus Relief Plan. However, grants are not going to happen and conditions are not going to go away. MP Omar Ottley made reference to the Marshall Plan, the American aid package for the reconstruction of Europe after the Second World War. “There were no stipulations for this. They assisted with no conditions,” Ottley said. Other MPs joined this chorus. MP George Pantophlet: “We…
PHILIPSBURG – The draft 2020 budget closes with a deficit of 263.2 million guilders ($147 million). Expenditures total 610.5 million and revenue 347.3 million. The Council of Advice is critical of the budget: “We regret that the draft shows little to no progress compared to the previous budget,” the Council writes in its advice dated March 31. “We advise not to approve the budget in this form.” The draft budget oozes the impact of the COVID-19 virus crisis and the uncertainty it represents for St. Maarten’s reality. Minister Ardwell Irion writes in the explanatory memorandum that the budget is based…
People of St. Maarten, I hereby address you as Prime Minister and Chair of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), in an update for today, Monday, April 20, 2020 as part of the process to keep the community of St. Maarten informed about the latest developments and the Government’s COVID-19 containment, mitigation and response measures. COVID-19 Cases Based on the latest available data, the counts for April 20, as of 4:00 PM are as follows: Self-Quarantine: 98 (no new updates) Self-Isolation: 87 (no new updates) Number Hospitalized: 7 (based upon information received on April 19 at 5:30 PM) Number Tested: 249…
Willemstad/Philipsburg – The Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS) has recommended the governments of Curaçao and Sint Maarten to invoke article 36 of the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands in order to obtain aid from the Netherlands for financing the national budgets, safeguarding employment, and – if needed – financing the balance of payments. The foreign exchange reserves are managed by the CBCS, who must ensure a sufficient supply of foreign exchange for the unhampered execution of foreign transactions. By doing so, the confidence in the fixed peg of the NAf to the US dollar can…
“IN MEMORY OF THE LATE MR. LOUIS DUZANSON” PHILIPSBURG — Gracita Arrindell, former President of Parliament states that, “it is with deep sorrow we mourn the passing of our former colleague, the late Mr. Louis Duzanson, former head of the department of General affairs Island Territory St. Maarten.” “Mr. Duzanson was loved and highly respected by all who had the privilege to work and be trained by him for decades. He was particularly, skilled in document registration and archiving. His work went far beyond the correct and timely processing of documents traversing the corridors of the government apparatus. He was…
PHILIPSBURG — The Delegation of the European Union (EU) in Guyana, for Suriname and with responsibility for Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Saint-Barthélemy, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten is announcing a special facility to support the Caribbean Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) as they face the enormous resilience challenges that the COVID-19 crisis has further precipitated. The facility is an immediate response to help the OCTs as it has been incorporated into the existing EU-funded RESEMBID programme (Resilience, Sustainable Energy, and Marine Biodiversity Programme) for Caribbean OCTs which has been in operation from its base on St. Maarten and is implemented…
By Sanvi Ramrakhiani Every weekend Lisa goes to the seashore. She loves playing with sand, collecting sea shells and watching small fishes in the sea. She finds peace near water. One day she sees round-shaped eggs close to the seashore rocks. She wonders which creature’s eggs are those. She started coming everyday to the seashore in order to know which creature’s eggs were those. After two or three days she saw a turtle protecting the eggs and she understood the turtle is the mother of the eggs. She read about the metamorphosis process and this was a good time to…
PHILIPSBURG – Recently, international health organizations have called for the use of barrier masks to complement protective hygiene measures and social distancing rules to help slow the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). In an effort to provide as many barrier masks to St. Maarten residents as possible, the St. Maarten Development Fund (SMDF) has launched their Masks for the Masses project with the help of over 20 local seamstresses and tailors. Hobbyist and professional seamstresses and tailors offered to assist in producing approximately 1000 adult and child cloth face masks for those most in need of them. The intention is…
