PHILIPSBURG – The Dutch government has sent a prisoner from St. Maarten who was put at the disposal of the government and was detained in the Netherlands back to St. Maarten without having received treatment under the measure of jeugd-TBR. ‘This is very bad for society,” says Chief Public Prosecutor Mirjam Mol. “He returns to society untreated, while there is a court ruling that says he needs to be treated.” Shimano Gumbs was a teenager when he fatally shot Etienne Le Blanc in his father’s DVD-store on Front Street on October 9, 2014. The 17-year old, who had fathered 5…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG – An urgent letter to the Prime Minister has resulted in the establishment of the Taskforce Forensic Care. In the letter, the Public Prosecution Service, Point Blanche Prison, Turning Point and the Mental Health Foundation raise the alarm: “The lack of forensic psychiatric expertise, treatment and housing of forensic patients has become a crisis situation. This presents serious threats to the safety of victims, family and the community at large.” Both Mental Health Foundation (MHF) and Turning Point Foundation cannot provide adequate treatment for mentally ill people who pose a danger to their environment and themselves – in many…
PHILIPSBURG – Chief Public Prosecutor Mirjam Mol intends to provide explanations on the Public Prosecutor’s website whenever a prisoner is allowed to leave Pointe Blanche prison early. “Why this prisoner and not another? I want to show the public how we come to a decision, what considerations are taken.” Early release is, in any case, undesirable according to the Chief Public Prosecutor. “If someone is convicted, you want him to serve his sentence. In many cases this is not possible on St. Maarten. The shortage of cells forces prisoners to be released earlier, to make way for newly convicted persons.…
PHILIPSBURG—Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs in her capacity as Minister of General Affairs, met with the Members of the Committee of Civil Servants Unions (CCSU) on Friday, February 7th, 2020. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the draft Pension Reform Legislation and the Function Book of the Sint Maarten Fire Department. During this meeting, the Members reiterated their concerns pertaining to the draft Pension Reform Legislation that is being debated in Parliament. According to the members, Civil Servants will be adversely affected by changing the “end salary pension” to a “middle salary” pension structure, given that the salaries have…
PHILIPSBURG — On the morning of Tuesday, February 18, 2020, the Sherrif Security building headquarters was raided and searched by members of the TBO, the Anti-Corruption Taskforce and other law enforcement agencies. According to a press release put out the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the business premises of the company and various archive storage areas were searched under the supervision of a judge of instruction. No arrests were made, the release stated. When stmaartennews.com visited the company building to speak with Yolanda Sprott, the manager of Sherrif Security, we were told by a member of the investigating team that we will not…
It is very interesting to hear members of parliament rail against the new work permit policy imposed by Minister Pamela Gordon-Cary, citing lack of following procedures and lack of consultations with other government entities and stakeholders. For a body that does not always follow its own rules of order nor adhere to principles of good governance, much less executes its fundamental task of overseeing government, it is refreshing to see many of the old MPs and some of the newcomers asking questions about whether proper procedures are being followed and if the necessary consultations are being carried out. We hope…
PHILIPSBURG – “New policies should be based on facts on consultation with stakeholders such as the labor tripartite and higher councils such as the Social Economic Council (SER),” former Minister of Public Health, Social Affairs and Labor (VSA) Emil Lee told stmaartenenews.com in an invited comment about the work permit policy Minister Pamela Gordon-Carty put in place per February 7. “Everyone should agree that we all want to see our people gainfully employed in rewarding and satisfying employment. I believe we should want to see our people as entrepreneurs creating thriving businesses that employ more people,” Lee said. But there…
“We don’t need data for it because we can see it.” says Minister Pamela Gordon-Carty on the issue of work permit policy and abuse. PHILIPSBURG – Members of parliament agreed about one thing during Monday afternoon’s debate about Labor Minister Pamela Gordon-Carty’s work permit policy: locals deserve a fair chance in the job market. But they had plenty of questions about the effectiveness of the policy and about the way the minister put it in place. “I believe in this policy,” Gordon-Carty said. “It is hard to believe that this policy is being criticized. All countries protect their local market…
PHILIPSBURG – The court of appeals has ordered E’s Solutions, a company owned and managed by Eunicio Martina, to repay Social and Health Insurances SZV an amount of 1,757,550 guilders. The implications are that Martina, a former Chef de Cabinet under Minister of Justice Cornelius de Weever, received this money from SZV after a court ruling handed down by the Court in First Instance on June 12, 2018. The appeals court has now overruled that decision and ordered the company to pay back almost one million dollars to SZV. However, based on information StMaartenNews.com has received, this information is not…
PHILIPSBURG – The government is still in a bind about the liquidity support it is expecting from the Netherlands for 2018 and 2019. But so far, St. Maarten has not met the conditions the Kingdom Council of Ministers attached to this financial injection in April 2019. These conditions still apply: the Kingdom Council of Ministers demands that St. Maarten improves the detention capacity at the Pointe Blanche prison; that it tackles the salaries and fringe benefits of members of parliament; that it allows the National Police to work on the island; and that it reforms the pension system for civil…
