PHILIPSBURG — In response to the advice the CFT has given to the Kingdom Council of Ministers (KCOM; or Rijksministerraad, RMR) on the request of Curacao for financial aid. We believe this analysis of Dr. Tromp to be quite informative and an interesting read. We also note here for the record that St. Maarten has not yet submitted their request for financial aid to the RMR as today, Wednesday, April 8th, 2020, at the time of this publication. CFT’S RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE RMR DATED APRIL 7, 2020 The legal mandate of the Cft is to monitor the fiscal situation in…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG – For the first time since its establishment almost ten years ago there is a public row among the board members of the Board financial supervision (Cft). The Cft-members representing St. Maarten (Russell Voges), Curacao (Gregory Damoen) and Aruba (Hellen van der Wal) have openly distanced themselves from an advice to the Kingdom Council of Ministers (KCom) about conditions for the financial support St. Maarten needs to survive the onslaught of the corona-virus crisis. Voges, Damoen and Van der Wal demand solidarity from stronger economies “with no strings attached” but the advice the Cft sent to The Hague for…
Dear Editor, At some point the medical and transmission risks of the Covid-19 virus will decrease and the governments will be looking to restart the economy without increasing the risk of a restart of the virus. It is impossible to say when it will be wise to start this exit from lockdown strategies but it is perfectly possible to start thinking out strategies to exit lockdowns and restart the economy when the time comes for this tough governance decision to be made. Clearly transmission risks are very different for different activities. The essence of what can be called the “Traffic…
CAY HILL — St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) is preparing for more suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients that need to be admitted to the hospital. Based on case studies and data analysis from other COVID-19 countries where communal spread has occurred, estimates on the actual number – not to be confused with the reported number – of infected persons in the community can be forecasted based on the mortality rate and the doubling in cases over a specific number of days. COVID surge and pre-existing conditions As per April 7th, 2020 SMMC has admitted 12 COVID-19 related patients since the…
OYSTER POND — Late Monday afternoon authorities sent a container truck with containers to block off the border at the Oyster Pond frontier crossing after the border in Cupecoy had been blocked off earlier in the day and checkpoints set up at the Cole Bay/Bellevue and Dutch/French Quarter border crossings. The reason why the frontier border in Oyster Pond was still open during the day was unknown as both borders in Cupecoy and Oyster Pond were to be blokkaded. See news report below from Sunday, April 5, 2020. StMaartenNews.com managed to obtain photos and video footage just as a container…
While exploring the supposedly deserted streets of Dutch St. Maarten for a media report, we encountered several homeless persons, some more aggressive in their approach than others, despite there being a complete around-the-clock 24-hour lockdown. One of the homeless person was a man asleep on the sidewalk in the vicinity of the Kruythof roundabout in Cole Bay. We are equally shocked and saddened to see that despite the warnings of the prime minister to stay home, a homeless man was left to his own devices on the streets of St. Maarten. We really hope this corona-crisis teaches our government to…
PHILIPSBURG – De lockdown vanwege het coronavirus heeft tot een golf van ontslagen of inhoudingen op het salaris geleid. “Er is een soortgelijke situatie als na orkaan Irma, toen tal van werkgevers hun personeel benadeelden. Werknemers die hun zaak voor de rechter brachten, kregen gelijk,” zegt advocaat Cor Merx. Hij adviseert: “Maak gebruik van de tijd die je nu hebt om je werkgever een brief te schrijven.” Een arbeidsovereenkomst is bindend: zowel de werknemer als de werkgever moet zich aan de gemaakte afspraken houden. Deze overeenkomst kan niet eenzijdig worden beëindigd, tenzij er een ‘dringende reden’ is die ‘onverwijld’ wordt…
PHILIPSBURG — The coronavirus lockdown has led to a wave of layoffs or salary deductions. “This is a similar situation to Hurricane Irma, when many employers did not pay their employees. Employees who brought their case to court were proven right,” says attorney Cor Merx. He advises, “Take advantage of the time you have now to write a letter to your employer.” An employment contract is binding: both the employee and the employer must adhere to the agreements made. This contract cannot be terminated unilaterally unless there is an “urgent reason” that is “promptly” communicated so that the employee can…
By Hilbert Haar “Unity (as of a group or class) that produces or is based on community of interests, objectives, and standards;” That’s how the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines solidarity. Ah, I did not need the dictionary to understand what this term means: in times of crisis you help each other to the best of your abilities and as far as resources available to you will allow. So if you have, say 100 and someone in distress has 1 and you need 50 to survive, you are able to give away 49 or 50 without losing any sleep over it. The…
~ Covid-19 Update – St. Maarten ~ PHILIPSBURG — All food suppliers are allowed to make deliveries on both sides of the the island (Dutch and French sides) as of tomorrow, Tuesday, April 7, to clients, including smaller grocery stores, and shipments to the neighbouring islands. Deliveries are also allowed to individual clients (read residents) who can make orders online, via WhatsApp or telephone. The contact telephone numbers and e-mails will be published by government within short for residents to access grocery stores/supermarkets nearest to their homes for only urgently needed items.This delivery service is only for essential items, not…
