PHILIPSBURG/WILLEMSTAD – The court in Curacao has increased the advance payment to the Central Bank for expenditures related to the restructuring of insurance company Ennia to 15 million guilders, the Antilliaans Dagblad reports. The newspaper obtained the information by requesting a copy of the relevant court-edict. Initially, the court limited the costs to 500,000 guilders. The chairman of the Ennia’s supervisory board Faroe Metry complained in a letter that became public in November that the costs had risen to 8 million. In a reaction, the Central Bank stated that Metry’s letter contains inaccuracies, without contesting this number. Now it appears…
Author: The Publisher
By Hilbert Haar Wow, the funding agreements for the airport-reconstruction with the World Bank and the European Investment Bank have finally been signed by the current government. That’s good news for the airport and its employees and a feather in the cap of – yeah, of who exactly? The current government led by Silveria Jacobs delivered some of the signatures, exactly a month after her party, the National Alliance, together with the United St. Maarten party and a few independent MPs sabotaged attempts to appease the bondholders with a reassuring motion of confidence in parliament. Seen from that perspective, the…
PHILIPSBURG – In February MP Frans Richardson of the United St. Maarten party (USp) declared during a debate about funding for the reconstruction of the airport terminal in parliament that “The agreement with the World Bank is the worst agreement this country has ever signed.” On Monday, December 11, the government of which Richardson’s USp is now a part signed the same loan agreements with the World Bank and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The loan conditions have not changed; only the government changed. The agreement that was signed on Monday includes a $72 million grant from the World Bank…
PHILIPSBURG – The election campaigns are in full swing and with this in mind the public prosecutor’s office has issued the rules of engagement under its Zero Tolerance Policy. Identifying fifteen possible violations, grouped under general rules, the firearm ordinance and the penal code, the policy makes clear that, after permission from the prosecutor’s office, auxiliary officers are independently authorized to impose community service of up to twenty hours, while police officers are authorized to impose community service of up to 60 hours. The Zero Tolerance Policy applies to the period leading up to the parliamentary elections on January 9;…
PHILIPSBURG — There is a new initiative to seek funding for developing sports and sports facilities on the island. This initiative which was announced by Member of Parliament Rudolph Samuel is expected to raise huge sums to finance all sports facilities and sports enthusiasts by vehicle drivers donating one cent per liter of fuel at the pumps. “There are numerous sports facilities that are in disrepair and there is also need for assistance for the persons who are involved in sports to excel in the discipline. This has encouraged me to come up with this initiative, to find creative ways…
PHILIPSBURG — MP Rudolphe Samuel has taken an initiative in the Parliament of St. Maarten to amend article 59 of the Constitution which deals with the calling for new elections after the Parliament is dissolved for one reason or the other. He noted that when the Council of Ministers is given a “vote of non-confidence” they are known to invoke article 59 of the Constitution which automatically triggers new elections. He pointed out that this act of conducting new elections each time has been criticized by the community since it is seen as a burden to the people and it…
GREAT BAY — After a slow start of the tourist high season, several stores and restaurants in Philipsburg have trouble paying this month’s rent. Earlier this year Port St. Maarten and the tourism authorities announced that St. Maarten is seeing ‘a cruise boom’ and that the island ‘is leading a Caribbean tourism comeback’. But businesses in town are not seeing the profits they have been hoping for to cover their expenses. The Christmas lighting project ‘Philipsburg Alive After Five’, an initiative of the Philipsburg Promotional Board (PPB), has been cancelled due to a lack of funds. Last year businesses in…
GREAT BAY — To visit Philipsburg today is to see how the declining benefits of cruise tourism and lack of government support have turned the city into a hustlers’ arena. Hundreds of street advertisers and vendors, many of them illegal immigrants, compete with one another for customers for the shops, bars, the city’s beach and island tours. Often heated discussions ensue, and sometimes even fights. Cruise passengers reach town on foot, after a ten-minute walk, or aboard a water taxi that drops them off at one of three piers connected to the boardwalk. Tens of barkers await the tourists at…
Dear Editor, Marva was born in Aruba to a diverse family with roots throughout the Dutch Caribbean including Sint Maarten. At age 7, her family chose to relocate to Sint Maarten, Upper Princess Quarter, and ever since she has made Sint Maarten her home. Marva has been an educator for over 36 years and as such has experienced a very broad spectrum of the educational system in Sint Maarten. She started her career in education as a kindergarten teacher and has had the opportunity to continue to develop herself throughout the years; being able to fulfill various functions from teaching…
PHILIPSBURG — Member of Parliament, Wycliffe Smith, said that he is not pleased that the urgent public meeting, requested by his predecessor MP Claude Peterson of the SMCP Faction in Parliament, was postponed. On October 23rd, 2019, former MP Peterson requested this urgent public meeting of Parliament with the Minister of VROMI to discuss the land situation with regard to Mr. Denicio Wyatte. Seven days later, on October 30th Peterson followed up with a second letter again requesting the urgent meeting. Eventually, this meeting was scheduled for December 6, 2019, a whole month later. So much for urgent public meetings!…
